Mr. Seán Ó Foghlú:

We have detailed engagement with the troika when it is here and certainly are seeking to address many of the issues it is raising. We have quite a few initiatives under way to seek to enhance employment relevance. I will let Mr. O'Toole deal with the detail of what is happening within FÁS. A NESC review of the employment relevance of further education and training generally is under way and will be completed in the autumn. We have commenced a very important review of apprenticeships. There is a considerable amount of discussion on the European stage about the relevance of apprenticeships so we have commenced work on that and are looking options for developing the apprenticeship model. We have also issued guidelines to the VECs in respect of aligning their provision with the skills needs of enterprise on the basis of some Forfás work on the alignment of further education needs with the labour market. We have a number of specific initiatives where we are targeting unemployed people and are working with higher education on part-time and Springboard courses. We are also working on the Momentum programme, which FÁS is organising on our behalf. We can provide the committee with more details of those.

The IECT programme is an important skills initiative not primarily aimed at the unemployed. We provide a number of conversion programmes in ICT for graduates to encourage students to take up ICT and science and technology programmes generally. This goes back to secondary level education through, for example, the literacy and numeracy emphasis, project maths, bonus points for maths in the leaving certificate and the work being done to reform the junior cycle. In regard to bonus points for maths, the proportion of leaving certificate students taking honours maths at leaving certificate level increased from 16% to 20% last year and the indication is that the proportion will increase by a further 4% this year, although that will not be confirmed until the examination results are issued. When people study maths, it opens them to considering other career options. We provide a wide range of measures across the higher education and training system to enhance the employment links of education and training. This is not to say that education is solely for employment. I do not need to get into this debate, other than to note that education is underpinned by a range of other values. The work of the expert group on future skills needs is important in this regard, by ensuring education and training are relevant to employment.