Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin North Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Mr. Delaney to the meeting. SOLAS is charged under the recently enacted legislation with the responsibility of rolling out a national literacy strategy. I mention this because the committee has had a discussion about the dynamics of adult learning and adult literacy in Ireland. That was reinforced by the results published yesterday by the Programme for International Assessment of Adult Competencies, PIAAC, which indicated that 17.9% of Irish adults aged between 16 and 65 have a basic reading problem - that is, they are at or below point 1 on a 5-point scale of literacy proficiency. SOLAS's predecessor, FÁS, did not even have an adult literacy policy.

There is now a commitment to rectify that stitched into the legislation. I would like a full and detailed response on what Mr. Delaney envisages in this regard. All members feel strongly about the empowerment of those from 16 to 65 who may have been let down by the system or for whom it did not work. It should be part of the authority's remit to dig deep to discover the reasons behind that and find a strategy that can overcome the problem so we can improve the statistics. I congratulate Mr. Pat Delaney on his new position and look forward to working with him.