Unemployed will be ‘activated’ by Fás replacement

PEOPLE out of work who resist returning to further education or participating in community employment schemes will suffer financial consequences, according to the Minister for Education and Skills, Ruairí Quinn.

The warning came as Mr Quinn announced the formal abolition of the State training agency, Fás, which will be replaced by Solas (meaning Seirbhísí Oideachais Leanúnaigh agus Scileanna) — a new authority which will oversee the further education and training sector.

Mr Quinn said unemployed people will be systematically referred for the first time to the further education sector.

“If you’re unemployed, rather than simply getting a passive payment and doing in effect very little, you’re now being activated and given a skill or training appropriate to where you are in the labour market,” said Mr Quinn.

Mr Quinn said Solas will co-ordinate and fund a range of further education and training programmes around the country.

As part of major reform of the sector, the actual courses will be delivered through Vocational Education Committees which are also being reduced in number from 33 to 16 in a separate initiative.

“These programmes will be integrated, flexible, value-for-money and responsive to the needs of learners and the requirements of a changed and changing economy,” said Mr Quinn.

He promised Solas would help identify skills gaps, point to weaknesses and duplication in existing services and link courses more closely to both the needs of individuals and the labour market.

The Minister predicted there would be a shift away from providing re-skilling for traditional occupations like construction and manufacturing towards growth areas such as the services, ICT, medical devices, food and bio-pharmaceutical sectors.

He described the establishment of Solas – which is based on a Scandinavian model of delivering further education – as “the most significant change in the sector in over 70 years”.

The Construction Industry Federation expressed concern about the future direction of training and support for the building sector.

A spokesperson for the CIF criticised the lack of consultation by the Government about the new authority as “extremely poor”.