TEACHERS AND students of the State’s main language and integration centre for refugees protested outside the Dáil yesterday over plans to close the service at the end of the month.
Integrate Ireland Language and Training (IILT), a Government-funded company providing English language teaching to adult refugees and teaching materials for primary and secondary schools will close at the end of July with the loss of 44 jobs. It has 12 centres throughout the State.
The Department of Education has said it will integrate the service provided by the Trinity College campus company IILT into bodies such as vocational education committees (VECs).
Minister for Integration Policy Conor Lenihan told the Dáil yesterday the 33 VECs were “delighted” to take on the challenge involved in taking over the services provided by IILT. Both Fine Gael and Labour had tabled questions on the matter.
Mr Lenihan said IILT had approached his department earlier this year “with a proposal to withdraw from direct tuition for adult refugees, and indeed, with a request that this tuition be mainstreamed”.
Responding to a question from Denis Naughten of Fine Gael, Mr Lenihan said the question of the 40 jobs supported by IILT was a matter for negotiation between Siptu, the staff involved and IILT.
“I cannot dictate to the VECs that they should employ one person over another,” he said.
Mr Naughten claimed other services provided by the VECs would suffer as a result of the incorporation of the IILT services into the 33 centres throughout the country as no additional resources would be allocated.