120 Million National Training Fund - Tánaiste "Future Challenges Will Require a Dedicated and Focused Approach" "We Need More Training and an Increasingly Skilled Workforce" "People Must Access Learning and Skills Development Opportunities Throughout Their Lives" New Supported Programme for People with Disabilities "80% of People with Disabilities in Ireland are Unemployed" "People with Disabilities Can Contribute to Addressing Skills Shortages"

Mary Harney, Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment gave further details of the announcement in today's budget of a new National Training Fund which is likely to amount to £120 million in 2000. The Tánaiste also gave details of a new Supported Employment Programme for People with Disabilities.

The Tánaiste said "With unemployment heading for below five percent we are entering a new era. Meeting future challenges will require a dedicated and focused approach from both Government, Employers and Trade Unions."

The new National Training Fund will fund existing initiatives aimed at both manufacturing and services companies and operated by a range of agencies such as FAS, and Enterprise Ireland. The Fund will also support Skillnets, the enterprise led training networks pilot programme. The fund will also play a critical role in the State's response to the skills needs of employers through its support for Specific Skills Training, Traineeship and Apprenticeship and will underpin the drive for quality by supporting the "Excellence Through People" standard currently operated by FAS.

"We need more training and an increasingly skilled workforce. The days of cherry picking from among the ranks of the unemployed are over. Similarly, for those currently in employment, the concept of a job for life is also becoming obsolete. The State and employers need to work together to meet the skills challenge if Ireland's current growth and prosperity is to continue. That partnership must involve an element of cost sharing," the Tánaiste said.

Coupled with the establishment of this new fund the Government has decided to abolish the existing sectoral and apprenticeship levies which are no longer effective. "These levies are too narrowly based and fail to reflect the decisive shift from manufacturing to services," the Tánaiste said.

The new fund is part of an overall Government strategy to make a substantive response to the challenge of Lifelong Learning. "People must access learning and skills development opportunities throughout their lives," the Tánaiste said.

"With the continued growth in employment the institution of the new National Training Fund provides an unrivalled opportunity to sow the seeds that will guarantee Ireland's position as a high skills nation and a base for world class competitive companies into the future," the Tánaiste added.

The Tánaiste also welcomed the inclusion of £5 million to be made available in 2000 to fund measures aimed at improving employment opportunities for people with disabilities. £4 million will be made available to a new Supported Employment Programme for People with Disabilities which will provide employment in the open labour market for up to 750 disabled people in a full year. The funding will be available, through FAS, to agencies which are working to integrate people with disabilities into the open labour market. A further £1 million is being provided for supports to employers who have disabled people in the workforce. This money will be available, through FAS, to provide Disability Awareness Training in companies and for re-training employees who acquire a disability in the course of their working lives.

"In spite of the improved employment situation in recent years, many people with disabilities experience difficulties in gaining access to, and remaining in, the labour market. It is estimated that 80% of people with disabilities in Ireland are unemployed. At a time when many employers are finding it difficult to fill vacancies, there needs to be a recognition that people with disabilities can contribute to addressing the current skills shortages in many sectors.