Adjournment Debate.

FÁS Training Programmes.

Deputy Ulick Burke

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for allowing me to raise this issue. The number of apprentices who are losing their places daily in the on-the-job part of their apprenticeships is alarming. Up to the end of November last year, the number of apprentices being displaced from their courses was a trickle. However, throughout December, January and February there has been a serious loss in the apprentices' work schemes.

The data on which the Minister announced the employer-based redundant apprentice rotation scheme in January were incomplete and out of date, even at that time. They are particularly out of date now. I hope the Minister of State can provide more up to date figures that reflect the reality of what is happening to many apprentices today. The trades the Minister mentioned, that is, carpentry and joinery, electrical, plastering, plumbing and bricklaying, relate to the construction industry. However, many other apprentices in other areas have lost their apprenticeships.

It is a great credit to the management of the ESB that it has come to the rescue of this scheme by offering 400 places. The construction industry and its leaders, particularly the former Minister of State, Mr. Tom Parlon, should stand up for the many apprentices who have lost their apprenticeships in the construction industry and in areas related to it. It is important, even at this late stage, that they come forward and make some contribution towards the re-employment of apprentices who have lost their jobs. FÁS and the Department of Social and Family Affairs are combining to seek employment for apprentices. That indicates the lack of knowledge they have of the situation and the availability of jobs in this country. Jobs are simply not available in the construction industry unless Mr. Parlon comes forward to support apprentices or provide for them in one way or another.

The provision of €4 million for the FÁS scheme is totally inadequate given the numbers that are now unemployed. Why FÁS has been the sole agency responsible for the off-work training element of apprenticeships is baffling. The VECs have many excellent programmes available and it is regrettable that this facility has been refused. Likewise, the institutes of technology have many places available in worthwhile schemes that are appropriate for many of the apprentices who have been displaced. The amount of money available is totally inadequate. I urge the Minister immediately to broaden the number of people and companies that can take on apprentices. Let the example given by the ESB be replicated by many other State companies.

Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Jimmy Devins)

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. Since the beginning of last year, there has been a significant contraction in activity in the construction sector. As a result of this contraction, we have witnessed a substantial reduction in the number of people employed in the construction sector in the past 12 months. This has had a severe impact on the individuals who are currently undertaking an apprenticeship. The scale of the downturn in the construction sector is clear when one considers that at the end of last month the apprenticeship population was 22,561. For the same period last year, the apprenticeship population was 28,252, which represents a 20% reduction in a 12 month period. In addition to this decrease, by the end of last month FÁS has been notified of 3,695 apprentices who have been made redundant.

The high level of redundant apprentices is of particular concern given the structure of the Irish apprenticeship system. Our apprenticeship system is a demand-driven educational and training programme for employed people aimed at developing the skills of the apprentice to meet the needs of industry and the labour market. It consists of seven phases divided into four on-the-job and three off-the-job phases. An apprentice is required to be employed so that they can complete the necessary on-the-job training. The on-the-job training is designed to enable the apprentice to develop the skill, knowledge and competence to reach the required level of mastery in their trade. This implies that apprentices who have been made redundant are, therefore, not in a position to complete their apprenticeship.

The Government is fully aware of the difficult situation in which these redundant apprentices find themselves. For that reason, the Government is committed to assisting redundant apprentices gain employment as soon as possible in Ireland or abroad in order that these individuals may complete their apprenticeships. The Tánaiste, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and the Department of Education and Science have been working closely with FÁS, the institutes of technology, the Higher Education Authority and the social partners on introducing measures in an effort to address the problems now confronting redundant apprentices.

The measures that have been introduced to date will help in alleviating the current situation and comprise the following. The Department of Social and Family Affairs immediately refers redundant apprentices to FÁS for assistance. Following this immediate referral, the FÁS employment services and FÁS services to business divisions work in collaboration to assist the apprentice source a new approved employer to allow them to complete their apprenticeship as soon as possible. To date, FÁS has succeeded in securing alternative employment for 1,081 apprentices who have been made redundant, but in excess of 3,600 apprentices remain redundant. In addition, in the absence of options for workplace experience, FÁS has put in place an interim measure whereby apprentices who are made redundant can progress to the next off-the-job training phase in the education sector. This means they do not need to do their on-the-job phase and can go directly to the next off-the-job phase, in line with the current scheduling criteria.

At the end of last year, under this interim measure a total of 439 redundant apprentices were attending an off-the-job phase two, four and six and a further 505 redundant apprentices were scheduled to attend one of these phases in the coming months. FÁS is also looking at the advantages that EU-sponsored programmes that facilitate mobility for workers and apprentices can offer. In October last year, for example, FÁS was successful in responding to a national call for mobility projects under the Leonardo da Vinci programme, which is the EU's vocational educational training programme. As a result, approximately 25 redundant apprentices will complete a period of on-the-job training in suitable European companies, thereby facilitating the completion of their apprenticeships.

In addition to these measures, at the end of last year the Tánaiste announced the launch of a new FÁS initiative aimed at providing the necessary on-the-job experience to redundant apprentices. This initiative is called the employer-based redundant apprentice rotation scheme. The purpose of the scheme is to give up to 500 redundant apprentices the opportunity to complete the on-the-job phase of their apprenticeship in order to gain the required knowledge, skill and competence to successfully progress to the next off-the-job phase or to complete their apprenticeship. Employers who have a past record of providing consistent systematic training are being asked to provide redundant apprentices with an opportunity to complete their on-the-job phase in the following five trades: carpentry and joinery, electrical, plastering, plumbing and bricklaying.

The scheme works on the basis that FÁS will place redundant apprentices with an eligible employer, to replace any existing apprentices that have been released to attend scheduled off-the-job phases of their apprenticeship. The employer will provide the necessary workplace training and assessment to the redundant apprentice. The scheme will support redundant apprentices' on-the-job training related to phases three, five and seven.

Employers participating in the scheme are required to pay the apprentice the agreed industry rates for the specific apprenticeship trade and FÁS will make a contribution of €340 per week towards employment costs incurred based on a 39-hour working week.

Acting Chairman (Deputy John Cregan)

I ask the Minister of State to conclude.

Deputy Jimmy Devins

I will give the Deputy the rest of the reply.

Deputy Ulick Burke

No additional funding.

Community Employment Schemes.

Deputy Frank Feighan

Community employment schemes, in their present format, are totally unsuitable for the current unemployment crisis. One must be unemployed and in receipt of a social welfare payment for 12 months to get on a CE scheme and if one works for one or two weeks at any time, one must start back again and remain unemployed for 52 weeks to qualify. These conditions are very severe.

There needs to be leverage on eligibility criteria for CE schemes. One way would be to reduce the unemployment criteria to six months and give applicants six months on a CE scheme rather than the present format where one must be 12 months unemployed and when one gets a place on a CE scheme one can stay on it for three to four years. This would give genuine people with qualifications in child care, health care, office management, etc. who find themselves unemployed an opportunity to qualify for a place on a CE scheme. The benefit will be in getting work experience and preparing them for the labour market.

The objectives in the present climate should be to give as many unemployed people as possible a place on a CE scheme to ensure they can upskill and return to the workforce as quickly and efficiently as possible.

The increasing numbers on the live register are causing serious upset. People become very agitated when they see jobs advertised locally and apply for them only to find that they do not qualify because of the 12 month unemployment criterion. At times vacant posts are not filled despite the high unemployment figures due to the present strict criteria.

Many people who find themselves unemployed desperately want to get back into the workforce. The CE schemes are vital to ensure that they get upskilled and reskilled, and also that they will be prepared when the upturn occurs. I ask the Minister of State to look seriously at this matter.

Deputy Jimmy Devins

I thank Deputy Feighan for raising this issue.

The FÁS community employment programme is an active labour market programme designed to provide eligible long-term unemployed people and other disadvantaged persons with an opportunity to engage in useful work within their communities on a fixed-term basis. Community employment helps unemployed people to re-enter the open labour market by breaking their experience of unemployment through a return to a work routine and assisting them to enhance both their technical and personal skills.

CE is not designed to cater for short-term unemployed persons as they are not as far removed from the open labour market as the main client group for the programme. All CE places are filled on an ongoing basis, as the demand always exceeds the number of places available. FÁS also provides a range of programmes aimed specifically at the short-term unemployed, details of which are available from any FÁS employment services office, any local employment service office or from the FÁS website.

I am advised by FÁS that CE positions in the Roscommon area are currently filled to budgeted capacity. In terms of partaking in short-term employment prior to commencing CE, breaks from the live register up to a maximum of 30 days in the 12 months prior to application are allowed in assessing eligibility for CE.

Funding for CE in 2009 has been provided with a view to maintaining overall numbers on FÁS schemes. At present there are more than 22,000 people participating on CE schemes nationally. In delivering these places, FÁS operates flexibly in the management of this allocation in order to maximise progression to the labour market while at the same time facilitating the support of community services. This provision of places is managed through a standardised application process between regional FÁS offices and local sponsor and community organisations and any issues regarding the allocation of places are dealt with in this context. However, it should be remembered that participants, in so far as they remain on CE, are precluding someone else from benefiting from the programme. FÁS makes every effort to ensure that differing levels of demand between neighbouring schemes are equalised. FÁS also operates the programme flexibly as far as possible to ensure the continuation of community projects.

The Government will continue to support the positive role of CE in meeting the needs of long-term unemployed persons while at the same time providing essential services to communities. We are keeping the operation of the scheme under constant review in the context of the current difficult unemployment situation.

Deputy Frank Feighan

Could I clarify——

Acting Chairman

I am sorry, there is no opportunity to clarify. I cannot allow it.

Deputy Frank Feighan

I want clarity on what exactly "filled to budgeted capacity" means.

Acting Chairman

I am sorry, Deputy I cannot allow that. There is no opportunity to clarify.

FÁS Training Centres.

Deputy Joe Costello

The issues we are dealing with on the Adjournment today are related because of the recession. Clearly the issue of placement on CE and that of FÁS training centres are matters of major concern to the unemployed and the constituents we represent.

The most recent figures for January bring the number unemployed up to more than 327,000, which is a record number. According to the Taoiseach, the figure will top the 400,000 mark by the end of the year which, indeed, will be a new record by far.

Obviously, there is a major problem presenting itself. From that point of view the key policy of the Government in this respect should be to ensure that those who lose their jobs, with all this entails, do not end up in long-term unemployment. This requires that a range of support services be made available.

Obviously, what we have heard already in terms of apprentice placements should be examined carefully by FÁS, the DIT and other institutions. The number on CE schemes should be increased considerably. There are 22,000 participants at present, as the Minister of State, Deputy Devins, stated earlier. That has been the number for a long time. It was 24,000 not so long ago. The Minister of State could easily double that number. These are recessionary times. He might be keeping an eye on what is happening but he would need to do something about it once he sees that it is not adequate to deal with the problem. My concern is that we ensure that all of these measures, such as the back to education programme, back to work allowance, retraining, reskilling and CE schemes are in place.

FÁS, of course, is the major provider of such services for the unemployed particularly in terms of training services. I refer to one of the major training services provided in the city of Dublin, the Jervis Street FÁS. It is the only one on the north side of the city in Dublin 1. The training facilities of that centre are about to close. In fact, they will be gone within the next few weeks. It seems unthinkable that the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment should be closing down training facilities anywhere in the country at this time. We are about to lose approximately 250 training placements in this centre and that will deprive the entire north side of FÁS training facilities.

Most of the staff have been moved from Jervis Street. The last connections class for the newly unemployed will finish by the end of this week. The last photography class finishes next month and all the computer, IT and retail classes have closed down. The premises are virtually idle and the staff have been moved elsewhere.

There has been a €2.5 million refurbishment and re-equipment of the D'Olier Street FÁS centre but that deals with employment rather than training services. The new employment service that will be moved from FÁS to the Peats site in Parnell Street is also an employment service, not a training service. They are not in any sense replacements for the training services that have been lost.

I would remind the Minister of State that in these exceptional times of recession, the expansion of training facilities should be a priority and it really is unconscionable that existing services should be closed down when they are most needed.

Deputy Jimmy Devins

I thank Deputy Costello for raising this issue.

I will outline briefly the respective roles FÁS and the Tánaiste play in training and employment offices. The Tánaiste's role is to provide public funding and overall policy direction to FÁS rather than to get involved in its day to day operational management. Decisions of this nature are day to day operational matters for FÁS as part of its responsibilities under the Labour Services Act 1987.

Before I address the Deputy's specific concern about the FÁS office in Jervis Street, I will make a general comment on the facilities it offer its clients on a countrywide level, as well as setting out the financial commitment this Government has made in recent years in ensuring that FÁS continues to provide high quality services to its customers.

Through a regional network of 66 offices and 20 training centres, FÁS provides a comprehensive nationwide service of training programmes as well as providing a recruitment service to jobseekers, an advisory resource for industry and support mechanisms for community-based enterprises. In the past five years the Department invested more than €125 million in capital expenditure alone to ensure that FÁS continues to provide the highest quality facilities for its customers throughout its network. This investment includes a new state of the art training centre in Tallaght and a complete refurbishment of an existing facility in Ballyfermot. Major refurbishment projects have also been carried out on FÁS facilities in Finglas, Cork, Sligo and Limerick.

To turn to the Deputy's concern regarding the closure of its facilities in Jervis Street, Dublin 1, I understand from FÁS that this facility consists of a training centre, employment services office and also houses the city centre community services staff. It is the second busiest employment service office in the country, and together with D'Olier House, Dublin 2, accounts for more than 30% of employment services activity in the country. FÁS has been using these two city centre facilities since the early eighties. In 2006 the landlord of the premises at Jervis Street was granted planning permission to develop the site and had requested FÁS to vacate the building. Notwithstanding this the lease for the premises in Jervis Street will expire in July this year. FÁS has made arrangements for a suitable alternative ground floor location in the area for employment services and community services. These services will be located in Parnell Street, close to the existing premises.

Deputy Joe Costello

That is not true.

Deputy Jimmy Devins

The centre will be located in the same building as the new office of the Department of Social and Family Affairs, thereby facilitating those seeking to avail of the services of both offices. The expectation is that the premises will be ready and operational by July.

FÁS also plans to further develop the Employment Services office at D'Olier House by increasing the public usage area in order to provide its clients with an enhanced walk-in self-service operation. I understand that the board of FÁS has approved the estimated fit out costs in respect of both premises.

On the training services provided by FÁS at the Jervis Street premises, approximately 80% of those who receive training there are from outside the area. The continuing demographic changes in the city as well as the high costs of renting suitable extensive facilities for training purposes in the area mean that it is more cost-effective to redeploy the city centre training programmes to other Dublin training centres. Such redeployment has already commenced for longer-term programmes to ensure minimum disruption for the trainees involved.

I cannot overemphasise the importance of the role FÁS has to play in the Irish economy and society as this country faces into a very challenging period. The Government, therefore, remains wholly committed to giving FÁS the resources it needs to continue to provide high quality training and employment services that are relevant to the needs of today's labour market.

Home Help Service.

Deputy Seymour Crawford

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for the opportunity to raise this matter.

I seldom personalise any issue in the Dáil, but I raise this matter on that basis to show clearly the situation on the ground as far as home help is concerned in the constituency of Cavan-Monaghan. I do it in light of the fact that the Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Mary Harney, is explaining that the closure of the two wards in Monaghan hospital will not cause any problem because there are good home help services and packages available. There is supposed to be an effort to encourage people to stay in their homes for as long as possible, yet here is a specific issue concerning a lady who received seven hours of home help in 2003, which was subsequently reduced to four hours. On 28 January 2009 she got a letter to say it was being reduced to two hours.

With all due respects, what support can an 83 year old woman get from a home help over two hours per week? If she only takes her into town as the sole outing of the week, that will take up most of the two hours, regardless of the need to keep the house clean and tidy and whatever other supports she needs. The woman no longer goes to her place of worship, but tries to visit the town once a week. If she does not, the home help has to do it for her.

This is an example of how home help is being delivered, in reality, in the present situation. We are being lectured by the Minister as regards how many home help hours are available throughout the country and so on, but when it comes down to the individual, that is when it really hurts. I have another note here from someone in Belturbet, at the other end of the constituency from the woman in Carrickmacross, where a 79 year old lady had her home help reduced from 1.5 hours per week to three-quarters of an hour. This is really coming down to the level of a joke. If we want to encourage people to remain in their homes, there should be realistic periods of time allocated for home help.

To return to the example of the first lady, she does not have a family member, relation or anybody else available to her. She is completely dependent on the home help and the goodness of her neighbours. Imagine what it would cost the State if this citizen could no longer stay in her own home owing to the lack of home help. Imagine what subvention top-up and all the rest would have to be paid to a nursing home. I ask the Minister of State to reconsider this case and the whole home help situation.

I was told the other day by the Minister's representative, Professor Brendan Drumm, that a number of top level personnel would be appointed to the Monaghan region to organise and look after the home help situation there. However, if the people on the front line, the home help staff and home carers, are not available or not being employed, what is the use, because that is where the patients get the service? I ask the Minister of State to please ensure that this lady has her four hours of home help restored.

I know I am taking a risk in raising this in the Dáil. The services may see my intervention as an effort to bypass them. However, I raise this solely as an example of what has been happening all over the area. The Belturbet case has nothing to do with this, but that is an example where 1.5 hours has been reduced to three-quarters of an hour. What benefit can home help of three-quarters of an hour be to a 79 year old, living on her own in Belturbet? I urge the Minister of State to treat the situation seriously. We have never had as many people unemployed as there are today. Surely, it would be better to employ people as home help or home carers rather than giving them dole, with nothing to show for it.

Deputy Jimmy Devins

I am taking this Adjournment matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Harney.

I thank Deputy Crawford for raising this issue, as it provides me with an opportunity to reaffirm the Government's continued commitment to providing services for older people generally and, in particular, the important area of the home help service. Government policy is to support older people to live in dignity and independence in their own homes and communities for as long as possible. Where this is not feasible, the health service supports access to quality long-term residential care, where appropriate. This policy approach is renewed and developed in the partnership agreement Towards 2016.

The Government's objective of continuing to develop community based services for older persons is reflected in the funding given to the system in recent times. The total additional funding allocated for such services was in excess of €210 million in the three year period 2006-08, inclusive, of which €55 million was specifically earmarked for the expansion of the home help service. The new funding was both to enhance existing services such as home help and meals-on-wheels and to widen the range of services available to older people through, for example, the introduction of home care packages. Home help is the backbone of community based services and includes a range of essential supports that make all the difference to the quality of life of each recipient. In 2006 almost 11 million home help hours were provided by the HSE. The executive estimates that it will make available nearly 12 million hours this year, benefiting over 54,000 people nationally.

It is important in the context of the issue raised to point out that the home help service has also seen increased professionalisation in recent years with the implementation of the national home help agreement. This has resulted in greater flexibility in service delivery and improved consistency and service quality through measures such as training to the benefit of service users.

The home help service is reviewed regularly at local level by the HSE which has operational responsibility for individual cases. Professional staff on the front line who are aware of local circumstances undertake individual client assessments. Services are targeted at clients with a high level of dependency and in accordance with their assessed need. In such instances the level of service in individual cases may increase, decrease or remain the same, based on the assessed need of the individual.

In the context of the issues raised by the Deputy, I understand the person in question recently had a review of her circumstances which resulted in a reduction of her service provision after taking account of various factors such as the recent review and the need to assist others locally waiting for a home help service. It is open to any individual or person working on his or her behalf such as a GP to request that the situation be reviewed by the HSE should circumstances change. The Deputy will appreciate that the HSE collates statistics as a matter of routine in respect of the Cavan-Monaghan local health office. The executive has indicated that in this local health office area some 2,800 clients benefited from the home help service in 2007 and that approximately 3,100 clients received a service in 2008.

It is clear that the Government has made considerable improvements in recent years to enhance home help provision generally across the country, including the Cavan-Monaghan area. There is no doubt that at times demand can exceed service resources. However, it is a matter for the HSE to deliver services, both nationally and locally, in the context of Government priorities and its overall resources and taking account of the individual circumstances of each case.

The Dáil adjourned at 9.05 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Wednesday, 11 February 2009.

Dáil Éireann díospóireacht - Tuesday, 10 Feb 2009