Vol. 510 No. 2
127 Mr. McGuinness asked the Minister for Education and Science if his Department will pay £25 to all participants who qualify for the VTOS course regardless of the length of time they are unemployed; if consideration will be given to those coming off a FÁS scheme on to a VTOS course in view of the principle that participants should not lose out in benefit; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22069/99]
The vocational training opportunities scheme, VTOS, was established in 1989 with the objective of providing second-chance education and training opportunities for unemployed adults over the age of 21 and in receipt of an unemployment payment for at least six months. Participants in VTOS cease to receive unemployment payments and are paid training allowances of at least an equivalent amount. They are also paid travelling expenses, where they reside three miles from the centre, and a meal allowance in line with those payable by FÁS.
In April of this year, a training bonus of £25 per week was introduced for FÁS participants who were registered as long-term unemployed prior to starting their programme, that is, at least 12 months unemployed. This allowance was later approved for eligible VTOS participants. The bonus was introduced as an incentive to encourage greater participation of the long-term unemployed in education and training programmes. Time spent on FÁS counts towards the qualifying period, six months, in order to be eligible for VTOS. Time spent on community employment schemes counts towards the qualifying period, 12 months in order to be eligible for the training bonus.
The effect of the incentive in prioritising access for the long-term unemployed would be dissipated if the bonus were applied equally to all participants. In order to ensure a co-ordinated approach, the bonus scheme applies to VTOS from September 1999 on the same basis as in FÁS, and does not cover participants transferring directly from one training programme to another.
