HC Deb 28 October 1997 vol 299 c802W
Mr. John D. Taylor

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many of the students selected for the Training and Employment Agency sponsored programme in the United States of America are from Northern Ireland, broken down by religious denomination. [12771]

Mr. Worthington

Responsibility for the subject in question has been delegated to the Training and Employment Agency under its chief executive, Mr. Ian Walters. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.

Letter from Ian Walters to Mr. John D. Taylor, dated 22 October 1997: The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has asked me, as Chief Executive of the Training & Employment Agency (T&EA), to reply to your question about the number of students from Northern Ireland, by religious denomination, who are on T&EA sponsored programmes in the United States of America (USA). The T&EA operates 4 USA programmes through its Business Support Division and 1 through its Training Division. The breakdown of these programmes, which are aimed at enhancing the skills and competences of young people, is as follows:

Number
Business support division programmes
Catholics 80
Protestants 51
Not stated 20
Total 151
Training division programmes
Catholics 10
Protestants 14
Total 24

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