asked the Minister for Labour the amount of non-repayable grants for training and retraining workers which has been extended to Ireland by the European Social Fund; the location of the training and retraining schemes to which the money was allocated; the number of schemes affected; and the number of people involved.
Written Answers. - European Social Fund.
738.
Since this country's accession to the EEC in 1973, assistance from the European Social Fund approved for Ireland, up to and including 1984, has amounted to £602 million.
Operations which have benefited from the social fund include programmes of vocational training of unemployed and redundant workers, the retraining of existing workers in new technology, training of handicapped persons for open employment and certain job creation schemes. In addition, fund aid has been provided for a range of pilot projects.
The main organisations which have benefited from the social fund are AnCO, IDA, SFADCo, Údarás na Gaeltachta, CERT, the Youth Employment Agency, National Manpower Service of the Department of Labour, the Department of Education and the National Rehabilitation Board (NRB) on behalf of the health boards and various voluntary bodies concerned with the training of handicapped persons.
Aid from the social fund is allocated mainly on the basis of national programmes which are carried out in numerous locations throughout the country. Details of the location of the various projects and the total numbers involved are not available to my Department.
739.
asked the Minister for Labour the amount of aid from the European Social Fund which supplemented domestic funding of manpower programmes for young people in 1983; and the amount the fund contributed to: (1) training programmes and (2) temporary employment and work experience programmes.
741.
asked the Minister for Labour the amount of funds granted by the European Social Fund for the training of young people under the age of 25 in the 1981-1984 period; the number of projects for which funds were allocated; the location of the projects; and the number of young people trained as a result of vocational training and youth employment schemes.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 739 and 741 together.
Particulars of European Social Fund assistance approved for programmes directed specifically at young people under 25 in the period 1981-84 are as follows:
|
Year |
Amount Approved |
Number of Persons Involved |
|
1981 |
£23,377,535.00 |
30,494 |
|
1982 |
£28,867,682.00 |
40,155 |
|
1983 |
£43,252,044.00 |
44,672 |
|
1984 |
£136,423,715.70 |
166,809 |
The breakdown of the figures for 1983 as between programmes of (1) training and (2) temporary employment and work experience programmes is as follows:
|
Amount approved |
Number of persons |
|
|
£ |
||
|
Training |
34,912,164.00 |
21,280 |
|
Temporary Employment and work experience |
8,340,004.00 |
23,392 |
As aid from the Social Fund is allocated mainly on the basis of national programmes, details of the locations of programmes specifically in favour of young persons are not available to my Department.
It should be mentioned, of course, that young persons also represent a sizeable proportion of participants in other programmes not reserved for persons under 25, but the precise numbers are not available.
740.
asked the Minister for Labour the amount of European Social Fund spending allocated for vocational training of the unemployed in the 1981-84 period; the number of projects for which funds were allocated and their location; and the number of people trained as a result of vocational training and retraining schemes.
The total amount of assistance from the European Social Fund approved towards programmes of vocational training or retraining in the period 1981-84 was £428.65 million. All of this was directed at programmes for unemployed persons with the exception of aid for a small number of programmes concerned with upgrading of skills of persons already in employment.
742.
asked the Minister for Labour the amount of European Social Fund spending allocated for the training of women in the 1981-84 period; the number of women affected; the number of projects benefiting; and the location of these projects.
The total amount of European Social Fund Assistance approved for Ireland for special programmes for women during the period 1981-84 amounted to £1.9 million and involved over 1,100 persons. In addition, however, women participated in the various other programmes assisted by the fund which are open to men and women without discrimination. In fact, there has been a continuing increase in the number of women trainees on such programmes. For example, the percentage of women on training courses operated by AnCO, which is the largest beneficiary of the fund, has risen from 10 per cent in 1976 to approximately 32 per cent in 1983.
As aid from the Social Fund is allocated mainly on the basis of national programmes, details of the locations of the projects in which women have participated are not available to my Department. The special programmes for women have been carried out by AnCO at various locations throughout the country.
743.
asked the Minister for Labour the amount of European Social Fund spending allocated to training the handicapped in the 1981-84 period; the number of people affected; the number of projects benefiting as a result of ESF spending; and the location of these projects.
Particulars of assistance from the European Social Fund towards the training of the handicapped for employment in the years 1981-84 are as follows:
|
Year |
Amount approved |
Number of Persons Involved |
|
1981 |
£11,896,554 |
14,746 |
|
1982 |
£17,652,350 |
19,349 |
|
1983 |
£20,769,870 |
20,250 |
|
1984 |
£28,007,666 |
16,700 |
Social fund assistance is allocated on the basis of a large number of national programmes organised by the National Rehabilitation Board, the health boards and voluntary organisations carried out in various locations throughout the country. Detailed information about the number and location of projects assisted is not available to my Department.