I move amendment No. 1: In page 3, between lines 18 and 19, to insert the following: “(c) these payments to only relate to training and upskilling and not for any other purpose; these payments to only relate to the construction or reconstruction (not retrofitting) of a premises that is only used for training and educational purposes.”.”. The diversion of a portion of the employer-contributed fund to cover costs typically associated with Exchequer capital expenditure, such as retrofitting or repair of a premises, means a fundamental and unacceptable deviation from the core mandate of the National Training Fund, NTF, to measures other than direct skills and training initiatives and could rapidly deplete the surplus without delivering any impact on skills development. That is why I have tabled this amendment, which stipulates that any moneys used for the purchase of land, construction or reconstruction only be used for training, upskilling and educational purposes. We may have a verbal guarantee now that it will not happen, but there is no guarantee that a future Minister will not change that. I welcome that this NTF funding will be unlocked and commend the Minister on working on this, but this amendment is important.

Sentiment score: -0.01

Should moneys for this purpose not be coming from Exchequer capital expenditure rather than the NTF? As the Minister set out when he spoke on Committee Stage and again today, the NTF is to be used "to raise the skills", "to provide training" and "to provide information". We could very quickly go through that surplus if we were to use it for retrofitting and on buildings. In such circumstances, we could end up with no surplus or not enough for training. A lot of jobs are being lost to artificial intelligence. Those employers are going to need uptraining and skilling. The fear is that we could run out of NTF funding very quickly.

Sentiment score: -0.08

In terms of the purchasing of land, I think the amendment should definitely stand. I would be fearful if there is no guarantee preventing a future Minister from changing that to buy buildings for anything other than upskilling and training. It needs to be clear in black and white that that is what the payments are for, so I will press the amendment.

Sentiment score: 0.08