Dr. Kara McGann:

I thank the joint committee for the opportunity to address it on an important issue for the business sector. IBEC is pleased to have been a member of both the further education and training strategy advisory group and the group that is currently overseeing its implementation. Therefore, we are very familiar with the detailed planning that has gone into the development of the strategy. We also the welcome the commitment of the strategy's architects, notably SOLAS, to engage with business.

This is an extremely ambitious and challenging strategy that seeks to rebuild the entire further education and training sector. It gives priority, quite correctly in our view, to the requirement to provide people with the skills and education to enable them to compete for sustainable work. However, its success will be ultimately judged by how it delivers. All too often, the reconfiguration of institutions and policy rhetoric at national level bear little relationship to what is happening on the ground. We need to be realistic about the significant implementation challenges. This is a complex and diverse sector that has not, it is generally agreed, received the attention it deserves from policymakers in the past. We are unable to comment in detail on a 158-page strategy document in a five minute input. Therefore, I will highlight where we believe the most significant challenges exist from a business perspective.

The strategy quite correctly emphasises the importance of aligning further education and training with the skills needs of employers. Local labour market demand is more likely to be anticipated through intensive interaction between education training providers and the enterprise. As the OECD has pointed out, there is an inevitable tendency for vocational programmes rooted in education institutions to develop their own dynamic, independent of the world of work and unresponsive to rapid change in the needs of the economy. To ensure that the FET system is not supply driven, it is critical that the business community is strongly represented at both national and, more particularly, at local level.

Apart from the local labour market intelligence which employers bring, they can also provide a specific perspective on the type of employability skills that can be developed through the curriculum. For example, in recruiting unemployed people for entry level positions we know that employers want evidence that candidates have the aptitudes and soft skills that will enable them to learn what their job entails, adapt to the company's organisational culture and get on with colleagues. However, we should not underestimate the complexities and challenges of connecting with a highly heterogeneous business sector in which almost 47% of total employment is provided by firms with fewer than 50 employees. This is a business environment that is constantly changing. In order to engage meaningfully, we need integrated regional structures which bring together employers, FET, higher education, enterprise development agencies and the local Intreo service.

IBEC is constantly struck by how the different components of our education system work in silos. FET has a critical function in providing access and progression routes for individuals to continue their studies at institutes of technology or universities. The committee will be aware that the Higher Education Authority is also working on the development of regional clusters of different types of education institutions. The clusters have the potential to play a key role in the development of industry networks and to provide clear regional pathways for individuals who want to progress through the education system, but we do not hear the voice of further education and training sufficiently in these discussions. Given the economic circumstances, it is not surprising that a lot of attention in the development of the strategy was on the relationship between FET and labour market activation. However, the sector has a critical role in meeting the needs of people in employment.

Ireland's economic recovery depends on the skills and flexibility of its labour market. There is a particularly important cohort of individuals currently in employment which is precarious or where skills are becoming obsolete. They also require upskilling or retraining if they are to retain their jobs and their employer is to remain viable or competitive. It is important that provision is made for them. To meet the needs of diverse learners with diverse schedules it is important that a range of programme delivery methods are offered. This will offer benefits in terms of costs and flexibility of access, but will also require significant preparation in advance by those delivering the programmes. As important is the flexibility around when courses are delivered and examined it does not always suit to have strict adherence to an academic year and so flexibility is also required in this regard.

Last July, IBEC provided evidence to the joint committee on the new apprenticeship model. At the time we referred to the reality that apprenticeships and vocational education in general do not enjoy the parity of esteem in a society that defines educational achievement in terms of CAO points. This strategy offers an opportunity to address this challenge. Its successful implementation will enable FET providers to equip learners with the necessary skills to take up sustainable, high quality and fulfilling employment. In this way, it will become a highly sought-after education option for both young people and adult learners. I thank members of the joint committee for the opportunity to present IBEC's views on this important initiative.