Following the establishment of Education and Training Boards (ETBs) on 1 July 2013 and the establishment of SOLAS, to replace FÁS, on 27 October 2013, 7 SOLAS training centres and their staff transferred to 4 ETBs on 1 January 2014 and 12 SOLAS training centres transferred to a further 7 ETBs on 1 July 2014. A total of 863 staff were transferred from SOLAS to the ETBs. The staff transferred per ETB is set out in the table.
|
ETB
|
Staff Number
|
|
Dublin-Dún Laoghaire
|
168
|
|
Dublin City
|
129
|
|
Waterford-Wexford
|
94
|
|
Cork
|
91
|
|
Limerick-Clare
|
91
|
|
Longford-Westmeath
|
67
|
|
Galway-Roscommon
|
55
|
|
Louth-Meath
|
48
|
|
Mayo-Sligo-Leitrim
|
44
|
|
Kerry
|
40
|
|
Donegal
|
36
|
|
Total
|
863
|
Further Education and Training (FET) services are delivered in a number of different ways – within catchment areas of ETBs and, where specific workshop-type training is required, in dedicated Training Centres. During the transfer process and pending the finalisation of the transfer of training functions to the 5 ETBs which currently do not have training centres, SOLAS both directly funded activity and grant-aided the ETBs to ensure continuity to learners. Global budgets assigned to each ETB area for Further Education & Training reflect the transition period and are set out in the tables.
Category 1 – ETBs managed the full FET budget over 2014
|
ETB
|
€m
|
|
Dublin-Dún Laoghaire
|
69 (Includes training delivered for Kildare-Wicklow area)
|
|
Dublin City
|
86
|
|
Cork
|
52
|
|
Kerry
|
25
|
Category 2 – ETBs managed the Further Education budget for the full year (2014) and Training Budget for 6 months (July – Dec 2014)
|
ETB
|
€m
|
|
Waterford-Wexford
|
60 (Includes Training delivered for Kilkenny-Carlow area, Tipperary Sth area and Kildare-Wicklow area)
|
|
Limerick-Clare
|
50 (Includes Training delivered for Tipperary Nth area)
|
|
Longford-Westmeath
|
41 (Includes Training delivered for Laois-Offaly area and Kildare-Wicklow area)
|
|
Galway-Roscommon
|
33
|
|
Louth-Meath
|
36 (Includes Training delivered for Cavan-Monaghan area)
|
|
Mayo-Sligo-Leitrim
|
31
|
|
Donegal
|
22
|
Category 3 – ETBs managed only the Further Education budget for 2014
|
ETB
|
€m
|
|
Cavan-Monaghan
|
7
|
|
Kildare-Wicklow
|
17
|
|
Laois-Offaly
|
8
|
|
Tipperary
|
7
|
|
Kilkenny-Carlow
|
7
|
In the ordinary course of business, my Department has sanctioned the filling of a number of critical vacancies in the sector. In addition, it has been examining the organisation design of ETBs in the context of their overall statutory remit and I expect that my officials will be in communication with ETBs in relation to this in the near future. 5 ETBs which did not have SOLAS training centres located in their geographic areas did not have training centre transferred to them. The 5 ETBs concerned are Kildare and Wicklow, Cavan and Monaghan, Tipperary, Kilkenny and Carlow, and Laois and Offaly. The delivery of that training is currently managed by the training centres which traditionally managed the provision of services in the areas that did not have training centres. A target date of 1 July 2015 has been set for the allocation of funding and staffing to provide for the delivery of training to the 5 ETBs not receiving a training centre. A National Education and Training Boards Steering Committee, consisting of the 5 ETBs which do not have training centres and the 5 ETBs which provide training services on their behalf, has been established by the sector to facilitate the implementation of this next stage in the transition process. The next meeting of the Steering Committee has been scheduled for 16 January 2015. As part of this process, engagement is being facilitated between the ETBs concerned with a view to determining the resources which will transfer from the ETBs with training centres to the ETBs currently without training centres to enable the target date to be met.
