I propose to take Questions Nos. 682 and 683 together.
My Department makes refund of fees to members of staff in accordance with the provisions of Department of Finance circular 21/78. This provides for refunds to courses in the following areas: degrees of bachelor or master of arts or commerce; accountancy; business administration; business studies; computer science; economics; general management; industrial engineering, for engineers; law; personnel management, public administration; secretaryship, in the Institute of Chartered Secretaries; sociology; statistics; and systems analysis. The courses must be provided by a university or other educational institution or professional body; must lead to a third level qualification; must be accepted by this Department as relevant to the civil service employment of the officers attending them and must be pursued in the officers' own time.
In the case of my Department's head office and associated offices and agencies, approval for a refund of fees, amounting to €147,603, was granted in 107 cases in the 2004-2005 academic year. A refund has not yet been sought in two other cases.
In addition to the amount paid under the refund of fees scheme the Department also provides in-house training and arranges developmental training specific to its requirements.
The other information requested by the Deputy is set out in the following table:
Year
|
% of Training Budget spent on fee refunds
|
2002
|
6.8%
|
2003
|
9.1%
|
2004
|
6.7%
|
This refers to the head office of the Department plus associated offices and agencies.