Dr. Colm O'Reardon:

I thank the Chairman. I appreciate his good wishes. I join with him in his comments about the centenary of the C and AG's office. I congratulate its staff.

I am pleased to be here as Accounting Officer to assist the committee in its examination of the 2022 appropriation account for Vote 45, and the relevant aspects of the Comptroller and Auditor General’s Report on the Accounts of the Public Services 2022 relating to chapter 19, the accounts of the National Training Fund. The Chairman has introduced my colleagues.

I provided some briefing material for the committee in advance of our meeting today. However, given that the Department is recently established, and this will be the first occasion its appropriation accounts have been examined by the committee, I will provide a brief introduction to the Department. The Department was established in August 2020, with functions and responsibilities being transferred from the Departments of Education and Enterprise, Trade and Employment. The establishment of the Department reflects the Government’s commitment to Ireland becoming a leader in the knowledge economy as well an understanding of the transformative power that education has, both to individuals and Irish society.

The Department’s gross voted expenditure in 2022 totalled €3.284 billion, which included a deferred capital surrender of €37.2 million. This expenditure resulted in a gross saving of €62.5 million against a provision of €3.346 billion. €55.2 million of this saving was carried forward for use into 2023 and the balance of €7.4 million was surrendered to the Exchequer. Excess appropriations in aid received of €11.5 million were surrendered in full.

The Department’s activity touches every household in the country, including students, researchers, apprentices and lecturers. We are deeply aware of the responsibility of our mandate and the importance of our success. To give a sense of how large the sector is, in 2022, the apprenticeship population was 26,325 and, in the same year, there were 186,000 further education and training enrolments. An additional 21,000 learners were enrolled on the national e-college system and there were 256,000 total enrolments in higher education. In 2021, the Government invested almost €1 billion in research and innovation and this Department accounted for €500 million. Research and innovation will provide many of the answers to the challenges that threaten our shared future, such as climate change.

In the three years since the Department’s establishment there has been a significant strengthening of further and higher education and research throughout the country. Developments such as the Action Plan for Apprenticeship, and the inclusion of links to further education and training options on the CAO website in 2021, have had a considerable impact on how Irish society views these invaluable learning paths. The adult literacy for life strategy and the prisoner education task force are two initiatives that demonstrate the tangible and positive impacts of education as well as the diversity of life stages at which people access and acquire new skills.

In the higher education sector, there are now five technological universities providing a meaningful impact both regionally and nationally. The Oireachtas has also enacted the Higher Education Authority Act 2022, representing one of the most significant governance reforms of the higher education sector in many years. The national tertiary office has been established within the HEA to develop joint further and higher education degree programmes. From September of this year, students will now be able to commence their third level experience in further education and progress seamlessly to complete the remainder in higher education institutions.

It remains a priority for the Department to ensure that the higher education student body, at all levels and across all programmes, reflects the diversity and social mix of Ireland’s population. To this end, we will continue to deliver the National Access Plan 2022 to 2028. The need to ensure the availability of appropriate accommodation for students will also remain a priority. For the first time, the State is investing in student accommodation and the Department will continue to work across Government, and with our sector, to boost the supply of affordable accommodation.

The Department has, in addition, overseen significant reform in Ireland’s research and innovation landscape, most notably with the launch of Impact 2030: Ireland’s Research and Innovation Strategy. All-island research collaborations are progressing under the HEA’s North-South research programme, which entails a €50 million investment in conjunction with the shared island initiative. A new research agency, research Ireland, will soon be established, following the amalgamation of Science Foundation Ireland and the Irish Research Council, to fund challenge and interdisciplinary research, in addition to supporting excellent research across all research areas. We are also formulating new structures relating to the generation of scientific advice, which will be led by a Government science adviser, that will enable the Government to be provided with the best possible counsel when considering national level issues and challenges.

I must also acknowledge the centrality of the bodies under the aegis of the Department regarding so many of these changes.

I will turn briefly to the NTF. I thank the Comptroller and Auditor General for his review of the fund. The Department accepts the recommendations set out in his report. Established by the National Training Fund Act 2000, the NTF is a dedicated fund to support employment-focused training. It is resourced by a levy of 1% of reckonable earnings in respect of employees of certain classes of employment. The NTF funds 18 schemes across tenDepartments, agencies and business, community and voluntary organisations. In recent years income levels have grown faster than the rate of expenditure in the fund. While that is a positive indication of the level of growth in the economy, we acknowledge that the accumulated surplus is beyond what could be conceived as a prudent level. However, any increase in NTF expenditure must still sit within overall Government expenditure ceilings. There is potential to use the NTF surplus to support the workforce in the digital and green transitions. This is an approach that has been advocated by the employer-led NTF advisory group and others. Discussions as to how we can deploy the full potential of this fund, while also working within fiscally prudent spending levels, are ongoing with the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform. We look forward to engaging with the committee and answering any questions members may have.