Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for the clarification but I understand that funding was made available in addition to the European Social Fund money, including, in particular, €21.2 billion for social inclusion and €30.8 billion for sustainable and quality employment. I understood this new initiative was launched to great fanfare in June given that, extraordinarily, 70 million people in Europe lack the basic skills of reading and writing. In Ireland, 521,550 adults cannot read at the most basic level. The figures for numeracy are actually worse. The proportion of one in six represents some improvement but there are still over 500,000 people who have difficulty understanding everyday texts. I understood from the fanfare announcement that there was extra money available. That is what I am trying to clarify, particularly given the skills gaps that exist.

See this speech in context