asked the Minister for Labour if he will outline the amount of money from his Estimate which will be allocated to outside agencies; and the way in which this money will be spent under the various schemes organised by these agencies.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Allocation to Outside Agencies.
11.
An allocation of £16 million has provisionally been made to AnCO from subhead J, of the Department's Estimate in respect of non-capital expenditure in 1986. This allocation will be used for the funding of over 25 year olds training, including training of the long term unemployed and training in industry. In addition, £40.45 million from the proceeds of the youth levy — subhead T — has provisionally been allocated to AnCO. This will be used for the training of under 25s and the administration of apprenticeship training. In addition, there is a capital allocation of £0.4 million to AnCO in 1986.
Incidentally, much of the Exchequer funding to AnCO will attract European Social Fund support. Total Exchequer funding of AnCO is, therefore, expected to be:
|
Grant in aid |
Youth Employment Levy |
Total |
|
£16 million |
£40.45 million |
£56.45 million |
|
(non-capital) |
||
|
£0.4 million |
||
|
(capital) |
An allocation of £0.4 million has been made to CERT Ltd., from subhead M of the Department's Estimate in respect of the 1986 administration and training costs of their industry training division. This funding will allow CERT to provide training for persons over 25, already employed in the industry, as well as to provide a business advisory service through their regional training advisers.
In addition, an allocation of £2.093 million from the proceeds of the youth levy — subhead T — has been made to CERT for the provision of training for persons under 25 on formal chef training courses at vocational schools as well as on short 13 week basic skills courses at CERT training centres. The allocation will cover both training and administrative costs associated with this activity.
Much of the Exchequer funding to CERT will similarly attract European Social Fund support. Total Exchequer funding to CERT is expected to be:
|
Grant in aid |
Youth Employment Levy |
Total |
|
£0.40 million |
£2.093 million |
£2.493 million |
The grant to the Employment Equality Agency will be spent in the exercise of their statutory functions which are broadly to work towards the elimination of discrimination in relation to employment and to promote equality of opportunity between men and women in relation to employment.
A sum of £3.350 million is being allocated to OIE this year. £3 million will go towards the redemption of the sterling loan. The balance of £0.350 million is the amount still owing to the company from the £14 million Government package awarded to them in March 1984 to cover the cost of a redundancy and refurbishment programme and certain other liabilities.
A sum of £7.246 million has been allocated to the YEA for 1986. This will be used to finance the activities of the YEA in promoting schemes for the training and employment of young people.
Would the Minister not have thought it desirable to switch money from the programmes for those under 25 to those over 25 in his allocations for this year on the basis that the unemployment levels have clearly shown that there is a big switch in the emphasis to people aged 27, 28 and 29?
The Deputy is aware that there are many ways in which we can approach the horrendous problem of unemployment. I have available to me, in the Department of Labour and in the various agencies handling the manpower section, many expert people. It was on the balance of their advice and within the financial constraints which confront our society that we finally came down in favour of this particular allocation of funding, for which I accept total and exclusive responsibility. It is my considered political judgment that this is the best way, in 1986, to allocate scarce resources to deal with the problem.
I accept that the Minister took expert advice, but there is still a great imbalance in the facilities, services, courses and retraining programmes available for those over 25 years of age. While not wanting to jeopardise the opportunities available to those under 25 years, the unemployment figures have shown a clear switch in the period from 1977-1980 to 1985-86. I think many decisions made on these figures were based on the result of programmes starting in 1977-80. If the Minister tells me all these figures have been assessed, I have to believe him because I have no way of checking them at the moment. However, in my view it appears that money could provide courses for people over 25 years of age. From the figures given here today it does not appear that this is being even considered.
The Deputy is replying by way of a speech——
I had to listen to a fairly long speech from the Minister.
The Deputy asked a comprehensive question and I have given him a comprehensive reply. I agree with the Deputy; and, if we were in a position to allocate more funds to courses for people over 25 years of age, we would like to do so. That view is held not just by myself but by other Ministers for Labour and Social Affairs in the European Community. As the House is aware, many of the programmes we run in this area attract more than matching funding from the European Social Fund and we have attempted to maximise Ireland's drawdown from that fund. There has been a shift within the Community in terms of the profile of those who are unemployed towards people over the age of 25 years. Part of the answer to the Deputy's legitimate question will be found more effectively within the framework of the changed rules for the European Social Fund.
That answers my question. The way we are allocating funds is based on the European Social Fund and not on the justifiable means of those over 25 years of age.