Vol. 561 No. 4
202 Mr. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the extent to which she expects FÁS to be able to meet training and-or job requirements in 2003 having regard to budgetary reductions and increased job losses; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4756/03]
The FÁS budget for 2003 is €806 million; this compares to €860 million in 2002. The decrease is, in the main, reflected in the funding of the community employment scheme, CE. This is consistent with the Government's decision to restructure CE with levels being reduced gradually to reflect the significant reduction in the numbers of long-term unemployed and the shift in emphasis away from work experience programmes to training. Overall investment in FÁS training programmes in 2003 is being maintained close to 2002 levels with funding of €295.573 million being made available compared to €301.018 million in 2002. FÁS, taking into account policy guidelines, will decide on the priorities between schemes and activities from within this allocation. In this context FÁS will be required to maximise the benefits to its client base of the available funding through greater efficiencies.
