asked the Minister for Labour the way in which the additional £46,000 allocated to the planning and policy unit in his Department will be spent; if any of the £120,000 provision will be allocated to voluntary bodies to draft policy proposals and analyse implementation of existing policies; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Written Answers. - Planning and Policy Unit.
65.
Arising from the establishment of FÁS on 1 January, the policy making and monitoring role of my Department in relation to its State bodies has been strengthened in line with the White Paper on Manpower Policy.
The increased provision was inserted to enable the Department to deploy to the planning and policy unit specialist staff for policy analysis purposes in areas such as economics, finance and training methodology.
The provision relates to salaries, wages and allowances. My Department is, of course, open to ideas from voluntary bodies regarding labour market policy and will see to what extent these ideas can be advanced.