The information requested by the Deputy is not readily available. My Department and SOLAS will collate the information and forward it directly to the Deputy.
The following deferred reply was received under Standing Order 42A
I refer to Parliamentary Question Reference No. 18522/17 in which you inquired about the total budgetary allocation to adult literacy programmes over each of the past ten years and the average cost per participant
I my reply I had stated that the information sought was not available at the time but would be forwarded to you separately.
The information is now outlined as follows:
Year
|
No. of Participants
|
Allocation
|
Average
|
2007
|
48,011
|
€30,195,692
|
€629
|
2008
|
49,966
|
€31,214,724
|
€625
|
2009
|
47,600
|
€32,949,028
|
€692
|
2010
|
54,741
|
€33,106,739
|
€605
|
2011
|
56,797
|
€32,598,324
|
€574
|
2012
|
57,004
|
€32,648,891
|
€573
|
2013
|
49,272
|
€29,733,303
|
€603
|
2014
|
65,140
|
€28,531,092
|
€438
|
2015
|
68,542
|
€28,852,205
|
€421
|
2016
|
75,650
|
€30,152,380
|
€399
|
*Final figures for 2016 are not yet available to SOLAS and may vary slightly when you end figures are complete.
It should be noted that SOLAS was established in late 2013 and has been responsible for reporting on further education and training programmes since then. In order to align how data are collected and presented as between further education programmes, formerly operated by Vocational Education Committees, and training programmes, formerly operated by FÁS, SOLAS adopted a unified model from 2014 onwards. This should be noted when comparing figures for 2014-16 with previous years.