Vol. 493 No. 3
120 Mr. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number and type of training schemes available for unemployed persons; the number of places currently filled and available in these schemes; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16316/98]
Training for unemployed people is primarily provided by FÁS, the National Training and Employment Authority, which is under the aegis of my Department. At the end of May, FÁS was providing training for 11,643 unemployed people. There is a 70 per cent placement rate for FÁS skills training courses.
The categories of training provided by FÁS are the following:
Foundation Training:- This encompasses pre-vocational or preparatory training, including the Youthreach programme. It aims to enable people to progress to higher levels of training and is mainly availed of by early school leavers, long-term unemployed people and women returning to the workforce. There are currently 4,532 unemployed people on such courses.
Specific Skills Training:- This is related to employment opportunities in the labour market. There are currently 3,108 unemployed people on such courses.
Traineeship:- This is a relatively new initiative aimed at providing a structured training input for new entrants to the labour market. Training takes place both on the job and FÁS training centres. There are currently 701 unemployed people on such courses.
Job Training Scheme:- This is predominantly aimed at new labour market entrants and all training takes place in employers' premises. It is envisaged that this programme will eventually be subsumed into the new traineeship initiative. There are currently 944 unemployed people on such courses.
In addition, there are currently 2,358 apprentices in training with FÁS.
Training for unemployed people is also provided by CERT, for the hotel and catering industry, and by Teagasc, for the agricultural sector. These bodies are under the aegis of the Department of Tourism, Sport and Recreation and the Department of Agriculture and Food, respectively. In addition, the Department of Education and Science also provides education opportunities for unemployed people who wish to return to education to improve their chances of securing employment.
121 Mr. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the total number of training places currently filled by women; the number of places still available; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16317/98]
All training programmes in FÁS are open, on an equal basis, to men and women. There are currently 4,920 women participating on FÁS training programmmes, out of a total of 11,643 participants. There is always a degree of roll-over of places as current courses come to an end and new courses commence.
Since 1990 FÁS has had in place an annual Action Programme for Women — Women in Focus. This programme has as its objectives the active promotion of: the breaking down of traditional patterns of occupational segration by encouraging increased female participation in sectors of the labour market traditionally dominated by men; the participation of women at all levels in growing, future oriented sectors of the labour market including technical and managerial occupations and the upgrading of existing skills levels among women.
This has resulted in the continuing growth in women's participation on FÁS programmes.
Over the three year period 1998 to 2000, FÁS will develop, implement and report on its activities for women with an increased focus on monitoring. Performance indicators will be developed to ensure that the participation rates of women throughout the full range of FÁS programmes are maintained. FÁS will seek to ensure that its services reach women in key groups such as the long-term unemployed, returners, those with disabilities, travellers and early school leavers.
