Vol. 437 No. 3
73 Mr. Gregory asked the Minister for Enterprise and Employment if, in view of the success of many projects funded throughout the EU Human Resources Initiative, he will give the plans, if any, there are to fund their continuation, when the pilot phase has been completed; and his views on whether there is a Governmental obligation to mainstream these pilot schemes.
Financial support provided from the European Social Fund to the three Human Resource Initiatives — Euroform, NOW and Horizon — allows for the piloting of innovative approaches to training, education and employment creation. Accordingly, projects are cofinanced only for a predetermined period of time. The regulations which now govern financing under the European Union Human Resource Initiatives do not provide for the continuation of funding when the pilot phase of a particular project has been completed.
A critical objective of the Initiatives is to ensure that the positive results achieved in implementing projects inform the content and delivery of education, training and employment programmes at national and local levels. All projects supported through the Initiatives are still operational. As the Minister responsible I intend, on their completion, to assess the outcomes and to ensure that innovatory developments inform policy in the education, training and employment areas.
