Mr. Andrew Brownlee:

On behalf of SOLAS, I would like to thank the Chair and the joint committee members for the opportunity to speak with them today about progress achieved during European Year of Skills 2023.

As the State agency responsible for further education and training, FET, in Ireland, SOLAS's vision is to power the potential of individuals, communities and enterprise through lifelong learning and workforce transformation. Working with 16 education and training boards across the country, FET provision is available in every community in Ireland and offers every individual, regardless of any previous level of education, a pathway to take them as far as he or she wants to go. This is very much in keeping with the ambition of the European Year of Skills to grow lifelong learning, empower people and companies to contribute to the green and digital transitions and support reskilling, innovation and competitiveness.

SOLAS is leading an ambitious national FET strategy in driving significant transformation across the FET system. ETBs are successfully delivering on agreed national FET system targets, which focus on areas including widening participation, progress within FET and on to higher education and ensuring higher certification rates for transversal skills and key skills needs. This ensures that learning undertaken has a currency and relevance for industry and beyond.

During the European Year of Skills 2023, the FET sector has experienced unprecedented growth and demand, with a learner base growing by some 17% in just 12 months from 2022. One in ten adults in Ireland, that is, approximately 423,000 people, were engaged in apprenticeships, constructions skills schemes or other FET activities last year. These figures give us a strong indication that FET is delivering not only for individuals but also for communities and societies and is achieving its ambition of becoming a major driver of both economic development and social cohesion. Some of the key developments during 2023 included well over 60,000 undertaking a FET QQI level 5 or level 6 course that provides practical work-ready skills or a pathway into higher education. A greater proportion of school leavers are now choosing FET and apprenticeships. We are delivering TY modules to give tasters of vocational and technical training and there is also a range of new tertiary programmes available where learners can begin degrees in ETBs and complete them in a higher education institution.

Skills to Advance provides upskilling and reskilling opportunities in FET to employees in jobs undergoing change and to those currently involved in vulnerable sectors. Key to Success is a close collaboration with small and medium-sized enterprises to help employers identify skills needs and invest in their workforce by providing free or heavily subsidised education and training to staff. Over 23,500 employees upskilled via Skills to Advance in 2023, which is an increase of 40% since the year before with FET becoming a key resource for enterprise. The year 2023 also saw the development of new FET micro-qualifications. This is a new FET offering to future-proof businesses. Programmes comprising of short, stackable, accredited qualifications are tailored to fit employees work schedules and are provided at little to no cost to employers. New micro-qualifications were launched in areas as diverse as sustainability, digital, robotics, aquaculture, business innovation and market development.

The national online learning service for the FET sector, funded by SOLAS, is called eCollege. It provides a wealth of free online courses including computer programming, data science, office productivity and web and graphic design. Green skills also are now part of its portfolio. Participation on eCollege courses during 2023 grew by approximately 20% to more than 25,000, bringing them gradually up to the levels of mass demand seen during Covid-19 when we opened up the resource to everyone.

On green skills, SOLAS and the ETBs are endeavouring to ensure that every FET learner has access to the understanding of sustainability issues that allows him or her to serve as the agents of change on climate action. In 2023, more than 15,500 people undertook a green skills module as part of their FET learning experience.

Construction is a key enabler of climate action and almost 5,000 were trained through NZEB and retrofitting techniques in 2023, through our networks of centres of excellence. A new modern methods of construction demonstration park is in development at the Mount Lucas national construction campus. We also launched an online safe pass system in early 2023 to facilitate updating of essential construction skills.

While we have made significant progress in the FET sector during the EU Year of Skills, the recent OECD review of Ireland’s skills strategy showed the need for a more balanced skills system and a stronger focus on lifelong learning participation. If we are to keep pace with other leading EU countries, lifelong learning is key to leveraging the opportunities and challenges of an ever-changing world of work. We want FET to become the go-to place for upskilling and reskilling throughout lifetimes and careers.

We are in the final year of the current FET strategy, transforming learning. This will be a central theme in the new strategy for 2025-2029, which is currently in development. We would welcome the views and input of the committee as we shape the strategy over the remainder of the year. SOLAS believes FET is uniquely placed to respond to the critical skills needed in Ireland and will play an important part in the development of the future talent that will be needed to meet national strategic objectives on digitisation, decarbonisation and demographic change.

I hope this provided the committee with an overview of how SOLAS is currently progressing this and the steps forward made during the European Year of Skills 2024. I thank the committee members for their time today and look forward to further discussion on the matter.