I propose to take Questions Nos. 564 and 640 together.
The employment community initiative supports a range of innovatory projects under four strandsHorizon, people with disabilities; INTEGRA, disadvantaged and socially excluded; NOW, new opportunities for women, and YOUTHSTART, young people up to 20 who are at risk of social exclusion. Some 132 projects were supported in 1995-97 and a further 126 are now under way with a view to completion in early 2000.
Mainstreaming of the learning from the projects is being pursued through direct contacts with some project providers, links between my Department and the national support structures established for the initiative strands, submissions received from the support structures in relation to TEASTAS and the Green Paper: Adult Education in an Era of Lifelong Learning, participation in thematic working groups established for the projects, participation in the EU monitoring committee for the initiative, and in the mainstreaming forum established by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment.