Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 18 April 2012
262 Deputy John Browne asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of applications that sought funding from the European globalisation fund; the amount of funding available to the scheme; the amount drawn down to date; and if he will make available to training companies the data base of the applicants to help with their case. [18230/12]
View answerThe Irish authorities haves made a total of seven applications to date for the co-financed assistance of approved guidance, training, education and enterprise programmes in support of redundant workers under the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF). The EU currently provides up to 50% (65% for approved applications submitted between 1 May 2009 and 31 December 2011) of approved programme funding, with the remainder being met from national funding sources.
Since 2009 six applications have been approved by the European Commission, three of them in respect of eligible redundancies at the Dell, Waterford Crystal and SR Technics companies and various ancillary enterprises and a further three applications in relation to redundancies occurring within specific subsectors of the construction industry.
A decision is awaited from the European Commission in relation to the seventh and most recent application submitted by my Department on 29th February 2012 in support of 592 workers made redundant at the TalkTalk call centre facility in Waterford and at a number of ancillary enterprises. The programme of measures contained in the application has been estimated at €5.39m in total.
While the eligibility periods for the delivery of EGF co-financed supports under the Dell, Waterford Crystal and SR Technics programmes have closed, the certified final expenditure figures which are required to be submitted with the Final Reports on these programmes remain subject to final approval and official programme closure by the European Commission.
In this context, information regarding final approved draw down of expenditure by the EU is available in respect of one EGF programme to date, the Waterford Crystal programme, arising from the response of the European Commission to the Department's submission of the relevant Final Report and statement of certified expenditure. The relevant expenditure figure is an initial calculation received by way of debit note from the Commission and is subject to confirmation upon official closure of the programme by the EU.
Final Reports for the Dell and S R Technics programmes have also been submitted by the Department and the Commission's responses with regard to the approval of certified expenditure figures submitted therein are currently awaited.
The three construction programmes are still in operation and final reports are due for submission to the European Commission not later than 9 December 2012. The table under details the current position:—
|
EGF Programme |
Total Funding (national and EU) |
Funding drawn down from EU |
Approved EU expenditure |
|
Dell |
€22.82m |
€14.83 |
n/a |
|
Waterford Crystal |
€3.96m |
€2.57 |
€2.01m |
|
S R Technics |
€11.46m |
€7.45 |
n/a |
|
Construction (NACE sub-sector 41) |
€19.52m |
€12.69 |
n/a |
|
Construction (NACE sub-sector 43) |
€33.33m |
€21.66 |
n/a |
|
Construction (NACE sub-sector 71) |
€2.14m |
€1.39 |
n/a |
Regarding the request for the release of data on EGF eligible persons to individual training companies, I am precluded from doing so by the provisions of the Data Protection Acts.
However, a dedicated website www.egf.ie contains information on the three EGF construction programmes and on the TalkTalk application. EGF coordination units are currently in operation on these programmes to ensure that all programme supports are highlighted and that the take up of services is maximised as far as possible.
