asked the Minister for Labour (a) the total number of places available for training purposes in AnCO institutions at the most recent date; (b) the total number of suitable applicants for such places; (c) the trades or skills for which one or more years' delay exists before training for eligible applicants will become available; and (d) if there are plans for the building of additional AnCO training institutions, and, if so, where.
Questions—Ceisteanna. Oral Answers. - AnCO Training Institutions.
11.
The total number of places available in AnCO training centres is 3,528. The total number in training under the auspices of AnCO at the end of October 1978 was 5,010 made up as follows:
|
In AnCO centres |
3,335 |
|
In other organisations and firms (IMI, IPA, ESB, etc) |
897 |
|
On Community Youth Training Projects |
778 |
|
5,010 |
In the ten months up to the end of October 25,042 persons had applied for the adult courses and 9,000 young persons had applied through the National Manpower Service for entry to apprenticeships. In the same period 14,088 persons were trained in the places specified. The relationship between numbers trained and training places is explained by the fact that the courses vary in duration from as short as one month to as much as nine months depending on skill. In the case of the longer adult courses which include radio and television servicing, draftsmanship, computer programming techniques, servicing and repair of domestic appliances and hairdressing, and for which there is a big demand, there can be a waiting period of perhaps up to a year or something more but this is not a general pattern. Apart from the length of the courses the rate of intake in any skill in a particular region may be influenced by the market situation—the danger of over-supply at any particular time resulting in saturation of the market.
Where places are not immediately available on a course, applicants are advised of the likely waiting period and put on a waiting list but they are free to opt for any alternative courses which may be available and suitable for them.
The position regarding apprenticeships is that when the limited number of vacancies have been filled, unsuccessful applicants are not retained on a panel but are advised to reapply in the following year.
AnCO plan to expand the number of training places in their own centres from the present number of 3,528 to 5,200 by 1982. Most of this expansion will take place in Dublin and Cork where new centres will be built.