Vol. 405 No. 7
18 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Labour if he has satisfied himself with the effectiveness of FÁS external courses; and if any discussions have taken place with the Department of Education with a view to greater involvement by VECs in external training courses.
FÁS were established under the Labour Services Act, 1987, to provide training and other manpower initiatives. The Act also provides that FÁS should be governed by a board representative of the social partners, youth interests and relevant Government Departments together with employee representatives.
I am satisfied that the boards are discharging their responsibilities in a competent and effective manner. As requested by me at the first meeting of the board on 7 January 1988, FÁS have been reviewing their schemes and programmes in a systematic manner. In relation to external training, I am aware that FÁS retained an independent consultant to review the procedures involved and to make recommendations as appropriate. I am further aware that the consultant found that external training was a flexible and cost effective method of training for FÁS. I fully accept this conclusion.
Evaluating training in the global sense extends far beyond an evaluation of external training. My approach is that training should prepare people not only for the jobs currently available, but also for those likely to become available in the future in Ireland, or within the European Community. The question of equality of opportunity must also be taken into account when deciding the number of training opportunities to be provided even in times of limited employment opportunities.
