Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Durkan for raising this matter. One of the big things my Department is trying to do is not just to replicate the work that would have been done by the Department of Education previously but to be a Department that interacts between further and higher education and industry.

We do this through the regional skills forums, which we have in every region. These involve representatives of businesses, universities, colleges and the education and training boards. These forums meet, plan and map out what is required in each area. Even in a country the geographic size of Ireland, I am always surprised by the diversity of the regions in terms of the skills existing in each. My Department, therefore, is focused on aligning planning in the higher education sector with the skills needs of our country. As the Deputy knows and advocates for, these skills needs are economic and social. When we look at our public services as well, we must ensure that we are producing enough graduates. We just carried out a mapping exercise asking the sector what more can be done in medicine, nursing and veterinary medicine. I am really excited to see a pipeline of rich ideas and innovative ways of providing courses coming back as a result of that endeavour.

We have a National Skills Council and, within its remit, it advises on the prioritisation of identified skills needs and how to secure delivery of those needs. Key, high-level trends identified by the National Skills Council include automation, digitalisation, digital literacy and transversal skills. Information on these trends is then used to formulate our skills strategies and initiatives such as the National Skills Strategy 2025, Technology Skills 2022, Springboard+ and the human capital initiative, where we provide funding to provide programmes in certain areas.

In May, I launched an initiative called Funding the Future. It provides the policy basis for the vision and direction of higher education funding in a sustainable way. A key element of this policy framework is a focus on driving skills and engagement, with a particular focus on essential public services, as I referred to. Through this policy framework, my Department and the HEA will strengthen this planning provision and alignment with the skills needs of the education sector that the Deputy is rightly highlighting.

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