I propose to take Questions Nos. 76 to 78, inclusive, together.
FÁS operate a computerised tracking system to ensure that priority clients are given ongoing assistance to help them enter employment. Comprehensive support services are provided by FÁS to assist persons who lose their jobs or are made redundant following factory closures in Donegal. Priority supports are given to groups of redundant workers, for example, Fruit of the Loom, special needs clients and unemployed persons referred for supports by the Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs to FÁS under the national employment action plan. This system operates on an individualised basis with each person being case loaded and allocated to an employment services officer.
Detailed tracking of the FÁS client status from their computer-based caseload reveals that in the case of persons made redundant from Fruit of the Loom by May of this year, 89% were not signing-on the Live Register. FÁS does not have employment details in respect of these clients. As regards the remaining 11% of persons who remain on the FÁS caseload system, these persons continue to be assisted by FÁS.
FÁS have provided details in the following table of the number of people who have been recorded as having availed of retraining as a result of redundancies or closures in Donegal in each year since 1998: