Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 12 May 1998

Vol. 490 No. 7

Written Answers. - Employment Services.

Seán Haughey

Ceist:

87 Mr. Haughey asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if her attention has been drawn to the fact that husbands who stayed at home to rear children find it very difficult to get help from FÁS or other local development agencies when they want to return to the workforce or start their own businesses as they have no credits; the proposals, if any, she has to deal with this situation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11151/98]

Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Miss Harney)

The possession of credits from the Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs is of no relevance in seeking access of FÁS programmes. Any person who is unemployed and seeking work may register with the FÁS placement services through any of their 57 full-time and 80 part-time employment services offices nationwide. Once registered, a person is eligible to participate in a wide range of mainline training programmes run by FÁS, the training and employment authority, which are open to all persons who are unemployed and seeking employment, though priority is given to those on the live register.

Through the FÁS placement services, people seeking to return to the workforce can be matched with job vacancies notified to FÁS by employers. These vacancy notices are displayed on notice boards in each FÁS employment services office.

Persons may also avail of career guidance information and advice. A database providing information on approximately 300 careers and an interactive computer guidance system is available to all FÁS clients to assist them in making an appropriate career choice.

For those wishing to become self-employed, FÁS can provide assistance through its enterprise training programme or through its co-operative development unit. The enterprise training programme, which consists mainly of the business appraisal training programme, provides a full range of support services to persons who wish to set up new businesses. It assists such persons in assessing the development needs of a project and in preparing a business plan. The programme, which has a duration of between ten and 25 weeks, provides training in areas of business such as, inter alia, market research-planning, selling techniques, business plans, insurance-legal aspects of business, financial research-planning, book-keeping/taxation and new technology.

The co-operative development unit of FÁS, which was set up to assist and encourage the establishment of a commercially viable worker co-operative sector in Ireland, provides grant assistance and advice to persons who wish to set up a business using this legal form. In order to apply to grant assistance, the proposed business must consist of a minimum of three unrelated persons with a viable business idea in either the manufacturing or service industry. Grants are provided towards feasibility studies and business plans, wages subsidies, training and management. In addition to the services provided by FÁS to assist people to set up in business, the 35 city and county enterprise boards which were established in 1993, support the development of small and micro-enterprise throughout the country through a range of activities. The CEBs can provide direct financial assistance, e.g. grants, to eligible small and micro-enterprise projects, including childcare projects, provided such projects are capable of attaining viability without ongoing Exchequer or EU assistance.

Childcare is an important issue in promoting equal opportunities in employment. In that regard, my Department is represented on the expert working group on childcare, which was established under Partnership 2000, to devise a national framework for the development of the childcare sector. To date, 142 childcare projects worth over £800,000, have been supported by the CEBs.

FÁS is also very conscious of the need for childcare facilities for home-makers returning to work and contributes over £5 million per annum to community based childcare provision by way of support for community employment projects. Over 130 community employment projects have such a childcare dimension. Many of these facilities provide community based childcare for home-makers undertaking training or education.

Recently I announced the provision of tax relief in relation to individuals who undertake training in information technology or in certain European languages through training courses taught by course providers recognised by FÁS. In the case of married couples who are jointly assessed for tax, this relief will be granted to the assessable spouse and consequently should be of assistance to home-makers of either gender in accessing training with a view to returning to the workforce.

Finally, a working group, chaired by the Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs, is currently looking at the issue of access by women, including home-makers, to labour market opportunities and it should report to the Government in mid 1998. While the group's recommendations are primarily designed to assist the Government plan its strategy for the integration of women into all forms of training and employment, it will, obviously, inform policy in relation to helping home-makers of either gender who wish to return to the workforce.