Ireland is currently experiencing a very challenging and difficult time.
This Government, in its Programme for Government, has produced a credible plan to restore confidence and growth in our economy.
Part of this plan is the Jobs Initiative announced today by my colleague Minister for Finance Michael Noonan.
I am pleased as Minister for Education and Skills that my department is key to the delivery of a number of facets of the Jobs Initiative.
There are two main areas key areas where my department is involved:
Firstly in providing thousands of education and training places.
And secondly in funding school building projects, which will provide major improvements to our country’s schools, and jobs in the much needed construction sector.Education and Training:
As Minister for Education and Skills I believe education and training are key pillars of our strategy for economic recovery.
This is so in two ways.
Firstly, education and training are together the engine of sustainable economic growth.
Investing in our citizens’ education and improving the skills and competencies of our workforce will be critical to our efforts to attract substantial levels of foreign direct investment and to enable our domestic companies to continue to compete with the best in the world.
Secondly, providing training and education opportunities for the unemployed to reskill and upskill will enhance their chances of securing employment.
The additional training and education places announced today are an important step in helping the unemployed to get back to work.
The Programme for Government pledged to deliver an additional 15,000 places in training, work experience and educational opportunities within our first 100 days in office.
I am very pleased that the measures contained in today’s Jobs Initiative will exceed this commitment and provide those seeking employment with an additional 20,900 places, with the majority coming from my own department.
The Department of Education and Skills will provide 15,900 places across a range of programmes.
These additional places include:
6,000 places on FÁS Specific Skills Training Courses
3,000 places on the part-time Further Education Back to Education Initiative programme
1,000 places on Further Education Post Leaving Certificate Courses
5,900 Higher Education places funded through the Springboard Initiative.
Further details on these places are set out in the Press Release issued by my Department.
Today’s announcement brings total Training places for the unemployed this year to 114,500.It also brings places which the unemployed may access in the Further Education sector to 172,000 and in the Higher Education sector to 161,900.
These additional places are being funded through redeployment of some financial resources within my Department’s 2011 allocation and additional funds provided to the Department this year of €8.3 million.School Building Projects:
On the capital side, such expenditure in the Department of Education and Skills has a significant impact on job creation, particularly in the construction industry.
My Department’s capital expenditure is progressing very well this year.
Major building projects for 75 schools are under construction at present and my Department will initiate the appointment process for up to 100 design teams this year.
These developments create a range of different types of jobs across the construction industry.
As part of the Jobs Initiative I am delighted to confirm the allocation of a further €40m funding for school improvement works, to commence this summer.
It is anticipated that of this additional €40m funding, that €30 will be spent in 2011.
€20m of this will be reallocated by me from within my own Department’s 2011 budget allocation and an additional €10m will be made available to the Department from the Exchequer.
These funds will allow the schools in question to carry out small and medium scale building works to improve and upgrade existing schools.
These shovel-ready projects were among those submitted by primary and post-primary schools for summer works funding.
The projects being funded include the facilitation of the inclusion and access for special needs pupils, the upgrading of toilet facilities and roof works in both primary and post-primary schools, as well as some window projects in post-primary schools.I am confident that school authorities will be able to achieve best value for money on prices for jobs, given the competitive construction market.
The projects should also cause minimum disruption to schooling as the majority will be carried out over the summer months.
Projects in a total of 374 schools will be funded.
Full details of the particular projects being funded are included in the press release and there is a wide geographic spread in these schools.
I would estimate that this funding will create at least 2,400 direct and 480 indirect jobs in the economy for around two months per job.
In relation to Public Private Partnerships, there are a number of these underway at present.
In particular, four schools in Bundle 1 were completed in 2010 and 6 schools in Bundle 2 are in construction and will be operational by November 2011.
A further eight schools in Bundle 3 are in procurement at present with tenders due back to the National Development Finance Agency (NDFA) in July 2011.
This will be followed by a funding competition once the tenders have been assessed and the new schools will be completed by September 2013.
Furthermore, I have now agreed with my colleague the Minister for Public Expenditure & Reform that my Department will identify and deliver two further schools PPP bundles in areas where additional infrastructure is required post 2016.
Work on the identification of these bundles will commence immediately.
This development will support the continued diversification of the delivery of school building projects involving delivery in the traditional manner and now, on an increased basis, the VECs.Conclusion
In conclusion, I would say that the additional education and training places and the capital works announced in today’s Jobs Initiative confirm this Government’s commitment to returning our economy to growth and helping those who are unemployed to get back into work.
Thank you.