Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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I listened to some of the discussion in the office before I came down. It is a subject that really interests me. Many of the things that were outlined including career guidance, silo thinking and the architecture that is needed to address this can be done through the National Training Fund. We need to really look at this. I have been looking at it deeply for the last two years. We are not making the most of it. The Minister with responsibility for higher education said last October that the National Training Fund was over €1 billion and is likely to be €1.5 billion this year. He stated that the challenge for the Government is to show how it is done as any expenditure from the National Training Fund is categorised as the equivalent of general Government spending, reflecting similar conversations that he had with officials within the Department. It appears that even at the highest level they do not know how to or even if they can access the National Training Fund that employers have been paying into and continue to pay into.

It is not a technical or legal challenge, as the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform responded even last week. He stated that the only reason this surplus was off limits to the Minister for Further for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science was down to a decision made by his Department and the Government to keep the National Training Fund within the 5% increased expenditure level. This is despite the fact that billions were spent outside the 5% last year. Are there any real barriers to Government investing this money in further and higher education? What engagements has IBEC had with the relevant Ministers and what explanation have they provided for not being able to invest that money?

Do our guests have concerns regarding how the National Training Fund is stored in Exchequer notes, creating an incentive for Government not to access the funding as it requires the corresponding payment by the Government? We have to get to the bottom of this fund. There is €1.5 billion sitting there while we have these enormous challenges in the labour force, research and development and all of these things that are urgent in terms of our competitiveness into the future and many other things across society. Has IBEC any news for me?