Vol. 423 No. 2
28 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Labour the total expenditure to date in 1992 by his Department under the various schemes operated with the assistance of the European Social Fund; the value of ESF funding; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
European Social Fund expenditure returns are available for the first six months of 1992. In that period the total expenditure on training and employment programmes operated by agencies under the aegis of my Department amounted to £111.82 million. The Social Fund contribution to this total was £42.01 million.
The half-yearly expenditure returns for FÁS amounted to £107.28 million, of which £39.59 million was funded by the ESF. In the first six months of 1992 FÁS catered for a total of 57,130 persons on training and employment programmes. The objective of these programmes is to equip participants with the skills and aptitudes necessary to enhance their prospects of obtaining employment.
CERT provides training for the tourism industry with a particular emphasis on meeting the manpower needs of the hotel and catering sectors. Total expenditure in the first six months of 1992 amounted to £4.54 million, of which £2.42 million represents the contribution of the European Social Fund.
In this period a total of 4,572 trainees graduated from CERT training programmes. High rates of placement on the completion of courses have been a feature of the training provided by CERT.
