Department for Education and Skills is responsible for the overall management, monitoring and evaluation of the instrument. SOLAS is in charge of day-to-day operation. The Revenue Commissioners (the national tax authority) collects the levy from the companies. They give it to the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection which then allocates it to the Department of Education and Skills. The Department of Education and Skills allocates funding from the NTF with the consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform in accordance with the provisions of the National Training Fund Act, 2000.
Technically, employers are the main funders of the NTF but they have no involvement in deciding how the money is allocated; this is the prerogative of the government. In this sense, it is public money.
In 2016, EUR 390,000,000 were collected. No EU funding involved.
In 2015, EUR 370,000,000 were collected (364,000,000 through the levy and EUR 6,000 from EU funds).
The funds available to the National Training Fund have been increasing due to the increased number of people in employment.
In 2015, EUR 334,000,000 were disbursed.
In 2016 and 2015, some 208,000 and 207,737 companies contributed respectively (the figure represents the number of employers from whom tax is collected by the national tax collection agency).
In 2016 and 2015, some 13,000 and 12,861 companies and individuals benefited (the figures concern all companies and individuals that benefited from the NTF, including employers that did not employ apprentices and individuals who were not apprentices).