Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I agree with Deputy Ó Murchú. There is no ETB in Ireland that has done as well as LMETB in terms of putting forward exciting projects. We see them both in Dundalk and Drogheda. Later today I will publish a progress report on the Drogheda implementation group. My sector of further and higher education, as distinct from my role in the Department of Justice, played an important role in hopefully helping embed some of those recommendations. I thank the Deputy for his co-operation and work with us on those things.

The National Skills Council is serving Ireland well. I thank its members. I also thank those in our national skills infrastructure in general, including the regional skills forums. When I engage with international colleagues people ask about our skills infrastructure. It is viewed as good and I thank those in the sector for that. However, we cannot be complacent, for all the reasons Deputy Conway-Walsh referenced. I attended some fascinating meetings with Enterprise Ireland in San Francisco recently on artificial intelligence. The world is about to change again. It is a question of how we keep up, get ahead of that and benefit from it.

On the key areas, the lifelong learning piece is going to be important. That will involve joining up the dots around how SUSI works, how the NTF interacts and how to support both the employer and the employee. We need to recognise that the student or learner will not be able to access learning full-time as they will be trying to hold down a job at the same time. These are big issues and I hope the report will guide us all as an Oireachtas as to how we take this forward.

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