Vol. 498 No. 4
94 Mrs. Owen asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the moneys, if any, she has included in 1999 Estimates for training by employers for their staff; the moneys she provided in 1998; the amount expended in 1998; and if she will give a break-down of the bodies involved. [27835/98]
Funds for the training by employers of their staff are included in Subhead K2 of my Departments Vote. The sum provided in the 1999 Estimate under this subhead is £24.530 million. The corresponding figure for 1998 is £15.987 million. The main components of the subhead are apprenticeship and the training support scheme.
Additional funds are provided from the European Social Fund (ESF) for these activities. The combined Exchequer-ESF expenditure to end November 1998 on these activities was £23.763 million.
As regards the bodies involved, FÁS is the delivery agent for the funds referred to above. In 1999, both FÁS and Enterprise Ireland will administer training support scheme funds to their respective client companies.
A provision of £3 million was also included in the 1998 Estimates under Subhead K8 for the introduction of an enterprise-led pilot training networks programme. However, as the commencement of the programme has been delayed, it is expected that only a small amount of the 1998 funding, covering initial setup costs, will be drawn down this year. An allocation of £3 million is being made available to the programme for 1999. This will be supplemented by a further £2.4 million, approximately, from the European Social Fund.
