Fine Gael TD for Dublin Fingal, Alan Farrell, has welcomed the announcement of an additional €400,000 from the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources for training for the digitally excluded.
“I am pleased with Minister Rabbitte’s announcement of this extra funding. Basic internet skills are of the utmost importance as the majority of employers now look for such skills when building their workforce. Training is delivered as part of the BenefIT scheme through 600 locations nationwide, with centres in Balbriggan, Portmarnock, Skerries, Swords and The Ward.”
“In addition to providing this training to achieve the goal of the National Digital Strategy which is to convert 280,000 people from being ‘non-liners’ to ‘onliners’ within a two year period, the Strategy is also committed to getting 2,000 Irish businesses trading online by the end of next year. To do this, the Government has also allocated €5 million to develop a trading-online voucher scheme which will be launched nationally over the coming weeks.”
“Over €4 billion is spent online by Irish consumers each year, however, only 23% of small businesses in Ireland trade online, this means that almost 70% of the money spent online by consumers in Ireland actually goes overseas. With Dublin Fingal’s strong high-tech industry base, great potential exists in online-trading for the large-scale growth of businesses in the local economy. This highlights the Government’s continued commitment to providing small and medium sized business with the resources they need to grow economically and create new jobs.”