Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 9 July 2013
95. Deputy Gerry Adams asked the Minister for Social Protection the courses that staff in her Department have had funded for them; the cost of each of those courses through the learning and development strategy; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33245/13]
View answerThe Department is committed under its Learning and Development Strategy to provide opportunities for the education and development of its staff. The Department recognises that investment in learning leads to improved performance and productivity, increased employee engagement and better customer service. Business areas offer development opportunities to staff through internal training, courses delivered externally or the refund of fees scheme. In 2012 and to date in 2013, staff attended 114 different external course types at a cost of €394,681 in 2012 and €138,036 in 2013.
The Department also operates the Refund of Fees scheme to encourage staff to pursue higher educational achievement outside of normal business hours. The scheme operates within the parameters of Department of Finance Circular 23/07. In the 2011/2012 academic year, 87 staff participated in the scheme resulting in a cost of €181,890. In the 2012/2013 academic year, 97 staff are participating, resulting in a cost to date of €92,163. Expenditure since 2009 for external courses and courses funded under the Refund of Fees scheme are outlined in Table 1 below.
Table 1
|
External Courses |
Cost |
Refund of Fees |
Cost |
|
2009 |
€352,435 |
2008/09 academic year |
€194,709 |
|
2010 |
€290,323 |
2009/10 |
€177,131 |
|
2011 |
€206,421 |
2010/11 |
€195,552 |
|
2012 |
€394,681 |
2011/12 |
€181,890 |
|
2013 (to date) |
€138,036 |
2012/13 |
€92,163 |
With regard to the cost of each course undertaken, this information is not readily available. The Department will, however, provide this information to the Deputy once it is compiled. The full list of courses under both external training and the Refund of Fees scheme are listed in Tables 2 and 3 below.
Table 2: Externally delivered courses 2012/13
|
Absence Management Accounting Procedures Advanced Access Advanced Excel AE Bootcamp (IT) Agewise Agile Data Warehouse Design Agile Methodologies Agile Project Management Basic Freedom of Information Basic Quark Xpress Business Process Improvement Business Statistics C# Programming (Intermediate) C# Programming (Introduction) Cert in Project Management Change Management Children First CISCO ACE Boot Camp Course CISCO Routers (Configuring BGP) Clear and Critical Thinking Comptia Network training (IT) Configuring BGP on Cisco Routers (IT) Configuring Windows 8 Conflict Management Courtroom Skills CPD Workshop in Adult Guidance Data Protection Awareness DCCM (IT) training Developing Web Applications Diabetes Awareness Diploma in Leadership ECDL CTP Training (IT) Editing Skills Effective Strategies to Reducing IT costs Effective Interviewing Skills Energy Conservation EU Presidency Training Excel Elementary Excel Intermediate Training Facilitation Skills First Aid Freedom of Information Fuel Poverty Conference Future of HR in Public Sector conference Gaeilge (FETAC) Gartner Workshop Health and Safety IDEA (IT) InDesign Pro Skills Industry Matters Conference Intermediate Access IT Audit Training IT Project Management Lean Six Sigma for Public Sector Leadership IT CMF Passport Course |
Managing Performance Measuring Training Effectiveness Media Skills Mediation Training Mentoring Training Course Microsoft 2010 Advanced Microsoft Visio (2010) Minute Taking Money Skills MS Office 2010 & Windows 7 MS Office User Specialist MS TechEd MS Visio 2010 Non Violent Crisis Instructor Occupational First Aid Course OO Programming Intro Pensions Training Plain English Planning for Retirement Portfolio Process & Catalogue Planning Powershell for Administrators PQ Process Procurement in Public Sector Project Management Project Management & Engineering- Agile Public Financial Management Public Procurement Conference Public Procurement- Litigation Quality in Social Research Training Quark Level ½ Rent Supplement Requirements Engineering Risk Based Auditing/Planning Safe Pass System Training Safety Representative Scoping and Delivering IT Projects Senior Management Training Shared Service & Outsourcing Sharepoint 2010 Sharepoint – Custom Course (IT) Staff Management Training Stress Awareness SQL Training Team Building Team Foundation Server 2010 (IT) Training Needs Analysis Train the Trainer MS Visio Professional 2010 WEB Design with XHTML Windows Server 2008 Windows7 Troubleshooting Word Elementary Workforce Planning in Public Service Working successfully within Team Training Workplace Programme XML Design and Build 3Par Admin Training (IT) |
Table 3: Courses funded under Refund of Fees Scheme 2011/12/13
|
Accounting Accounting and Business Adult Guidance Advanced ECDL Applied Social Research Business Administration Business Management Business Studies Business Studies & HRM Business/Commerce Computing & IT Counselling Counselling & Psychotherapy ECDL Education and Training Forensic Accounting Frontline Managers Gaeilge Fheidhmeach Geographic Information Systems Government Human Resource Management Humanities Inclusion/Disability Studies Information Systems Information Systems & Management |
Information Technology Irish Irish Law IT JEB Law Leadership & Management Learning & Development Microsoft Office Specialist Payroll Technician Personal & Professional Development Psychology Psychology & Social Science Psychology/Counselling Public Accounts Public Administration Public Management Science In IT Management Social Policy Social Science Social Science and Psychology Statistics Training & Continuing Education Training & Development Web Design Women/Gender/Society |
