Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 23 Mar 1999

Vol. 502 No. 3

Written Answers. - Departmental Staff.

John Gormley

Question:

443 Mr. Gormley asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs if staff members of his Department have received funding to attend courses; if so, the number of courses attended; the names of the courses; and the amount paid since June 1997. [7589/99]

Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs (Mr. D. Ahern)

My Department places considerable emphasis on staff training, delivered primarily by its staff development unit and regionally based trainers. Training courses which are delivered "in-house" and available to staff on an ongoing basis include Induction for new employees, supervisory skills, management development, effective writing, communication and PC skills, presentation skills and performance appraisal training. In addition, specialised training is currently being provided, also by Departmental trainers, in the areas of customer service, interviewing and report writing for inspectors and advanced training for the Department's deciding officers. Other specialised training is currently being developed for local office managers and their support teams, information officers, and higher executive officers.

A separate IT Training unit provides in-house training for staff in the Department's information systems division covering the basic technical knowledge required by new recruits to the division including courses in structured computer programming, VAX/VMS utilities and commands, RMS/FDL, datatrieve and program testing, as well as a basic introduction to computers.

In addition, my Department operates an annual fees refund scheme which covers part of the cost of the pursuit by staff members of approved third level courses in their own time. Appendix A contains a list of the 51 third level courses in respect of which refunds were made by the Department since June 1997 at a total cost of £208,976.

Funding is also available to cover the cost of approved attendance by staff members at outside training courses or seminars. Appendix B contains a list of 164 external courses funded since June 1997 at a cost of £422,812.

APPENDIX A

Refund of fees scheme

Name of courses

Level	Course Title
BComm	Commerce
BCL	Law
MBS	Business Studies
BA	Public Management
MA	Master of Arts – General subjects
Dip	Information Systems
DIP	Management and Industrial Relations
CERT	Computer Programming
CERT	Public Management
BA	Modular – General subjects
BSc	Management Law
BBS	Business Studies
LLM	European Management & Law
DIP	Statistics
BA	Social & Community Studies
DIP	Legal Studies
MSc	Public Policy & Management
CERT	Supervisory Management
BSc	Information Systems
DIP	Marketing
CERT	Marketing
DIP	Information Systems
BSc	Computer Applications
BA	Public Policy & Management
ICSA	Chartered Secretaries
MBA	Business Administration
CPA	Certified Public Accountant
MBCS	Computing
DIP	First Line Management
CERT	Health & Safety
CERT	Project Management
IATI	Accounting Technician
CERT	Psychology
CERT/DIP	Counselling Skills
CIMA	Accountancy qualification
BSc	Social Science
GRAD	Marketing
MA	Public Management
DIP	Development Studies
CERT	Introduction to Programming
CERT	Personnel Practice
BSC	Financial Management
CERT	Bookkeeping
ADV CERT	Computer Programming
BA	Community Studies
DEG	Barrister at Law
CERT	National Cert. in Public Management
CIPFA	Accountancy qualification
ECDL	PC Applications qualification
DIP	Safety, Health and Welfare at Work
CERT	PC Applications

APPENDIX B

External courses

Name of course

Leading for Organisational Improvement

Designing and Implementing Service Level Agreements

1997 Summer School Irish Management Services

Introduction to Word and Excel

Managing Priorities

Writing and Editing Skills

Word Advanced

Working Time Act Seminar

Public Service Pensions Conference

Organisational Stress

How to Think & Speak on your Feet

Introduction to the Internet

Computer Audit Workshop

Negotiation Skills

Introduction to Powerpoint

IBAC Annual Seminar

Crossing the Boundaries Public Administration Course

Euronight (Pension Funds)

Official Launch Strategic Planning Society

Foundation For Fiscal Studies

Management Knowledge Conference

11th Annual Colloquium for Civil Servants

Practical Stress Management

Clare Family Learning Conference

Quark Express Training

Welfare to Work for Lone Parents

The Grammar Game

Gender Dialogue

IPA National Conference

Improving Corporate Performance

Compsec International 97

Violence against Women

Transnational Seminar (National Adult Literacy Association)

Conference Older Consumer

Irish Ideas Annual Meeting

Synergy Network Ltd.

Defined Contribution (Irish Association of Pension Funds)

Superstrategies

Internal Auditing

Conference Supporting Adult Learners

Access Introduction

From the Regulators Desk

Internal Auditors Network

Public Service – A New Deal

The Future Of Personal Pensions

Smart Reading Training

Genuine Speed Reading

Interview Recruitment Selection

Introduction to Personnel Management

Peripheral Regions Conference

Excel Improvers Course

Working together for Excellence

Business Grammar & Usage

Into the Millennium

Safety and Health at work

Progress and Polorisation

Institute of Internal Auditors/Irish District Society Conference

Rags to Riches (Irish Association of Pension Funds)

Working together for Excellence

Public Procurement Advanced Budgeting

Practical Stress Management & Training

Taking control of your job

Irish IDEA Users Group Meeting

Programme Review & Evaluation

Aishling Group – Cross Border Conference

Launch of ADM's Information Pack

Relaunch of Citizens Charter

European Social Policy Forum

Internal Communications

Manual Handling

Train the Trainers

Bullying in the Workplace

Performance Indicators

Forklift Beginners Course

Design High Impact Brochures

Combating Social Exclusion

Management and Leadership Skills

Assertive Communications Skills

Dignity at Work, Adding Value to Employee Contribution

Confidence, Composure & Confidence

Dealing Successfully with Negativity in Workplace

Facilitation Skills

Introductory Courses (Internal Auditors)

Research Young Peoples Exp of Poverty

Exclusion and Youth Problems

Training Facilitation

Warehouse Manager

Reducing the Abortion Rate by Providing

a Real Alternative

Pension Fund Seminar

Expanding Nation, Towards a Multi-Ethnic Ireland

How To Be A Successful Team Leader

Management Skills For Secretaries and Personal Assistants

Future Of Housing In Ireland

Internal Auditors Meeting

Budget Perspectives

The Devil Is In The Detail

Building Better Teams

Shaping Social Policy

Training Skills Update

Health & Safety Requirements For Office Chairs

Irish Idea User Group Seminar

Mentoring The Micro Enterprises

Business Travel Planners

Common Purpose

Using Competencies in Managing People

Team Congress 99

CWD Management Course

Stakeholder Pensions

The Annuities Question

Access Advanced

Into to Dynamic World of Internal Audit

Update on Bullying in the Workplace

Social Economy in the South East

Team Leadership

The Future of IP Technology

Fibre Optic Technology

Relational Database Performance and Tuning

Microsoft Project

IT Project Management

PC Technical Support

Introduction to JAVA

JAVA Programming

Windows NT 4.0 Strategy and Implementation

Installing and Managing Windows NT 4.0

Windows NT in the Enterprise

Administering MS Windows NT 4.0

Windows NT 4.0 Server

Supporting Windows NT 4.0 Core Technologies

MS Windows Architecture

Migration Assistance Program (Migration across Operation Systems)

Dynamic DNS

VDU Workstations Assessors

Understanding Data Communications

ATM Accessbuilder

ATM Troubleshooting

Call Centres and Teleservices

TCP/IP

Internet working Bridges, Routers and Switches

Year 2000 Software Testing

ACMS Programming

Oracle Applications Installation

Creating and Managing a Webserver

Configuring and Monitoring Switched Networks

Corebuilder 2500

DECForms Programming

Understanding Networking Fundamentals

Toshiba Phone Systems

Lotus Notes Application Development

Lotus Notes System Administrator

Facilitation Skills

Fastrack to Oracle

CISCO Router Configuration

Team 97

91 1 0 Dial Management

DECnet OSI

Object Oriented Analysis and Design

Intro. to Graphic User Interface

Systems Analysis and Design

Rapid Application Development

Intro. to Relational Databases

DSDM Practioner

Business Objects (Reporter, Explorer, Designer and Supervisor)

Approaching 3 – Tier Application Development

Installing and Administering Terminal Server