Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

A lot of reform is taking place, given the SOLAS legislation. One criticism continually put forward is that there is a skills deficit in the labour force. How is the Government addressing it? The Minister may want to make some general comments on that and how SOLAS will play an integral role. The legislation is very progressive. As I said, we have had three reforming pieces of legislation from the Department which have not received the media attention they should have. They are significant and I congratulated the Minister on their implementation. The impact of the Qualifications and Quality Assurance (Education and Training) Act 2012, the Education and Training Boards Act 2013 and the Further Education and Training Bill 2013 will be felt for many decades to come. There is constant criticism that we are not tailoring our courses to meet the demand of industry. What steps has the Department taken to deal with that?