Mr. William Beausang:

I will start with the Deputy's question on lifelong learning. I absolutely share his assessment. As we look at the transformation that is happening, it is a transformation of society and while the economy is a part of society, it is not all of society. If one looks at something like digital skills and the work done under the national digital strategy and the follow-on from that, focusing in particular on the risk of digital exclusion and not being able to participate fully in society on account of a deficit in digital skills, I agree with the Deputy that we need to adopt a holistic approach to looking at the skills. The Deputy is right; we cannot predict the skills required for the future precisely. However, we know what would make the difference, particularly when looking at the impact of automation and artificial intelligence, that is, human skills will be important, including critical thinking, teamwork, communication and collaboration. Those skills can be developed regardless of the technical or specific skills or programme that one is undertaking.

In looking at our lifelong learning performance, we are just above average by EU standards, but as the Deputy said, we are falling well behind the Scandinavian economies.

The challenge for us - and the phrase we sometimes use - is creating a learning society. There is a whole range of factors. The OECD research looked at the performance of the Scandinavian economies and lifelong learning. There are dispositional reasons people do not engage in lifelong learning where they do not have the confidence and do not have the motivation. There can also be informational reasons if they feel they do not have the information. Our system can be difficult to navigate at times. There are also situational reasons, for example, the need for child care or the time scarcity that people experience. A multidimensional approach is needed to lifelong learning. Sometimes there is a risk of defaulting to it all being a question of funding or the cost of programmes.