Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy has asked an excellent follow-up question. On resources, we are increasing the budget of Skillnet Ireland, which is an incredible agency, massively. The budget of this organisation in 2017 was €18.2 million. In 2024 the budget is core funding of €41.4 million plus a further €10 million. We have gone from €18.2 million to €51.498 million between 2017 and 2024. Year on year we have been investing more in Skillnet to help it meet the training, upskilling and reskilling needs of business.

The honest answer is that there are two areas of challenge. The first is that SMEs need to be supported with the costs of accessing training. SMEs that do not have a HR department or an education department still need to be able to find a way to help their workers to upskill and reskill. That is so important and it is what makes the SME incentivisation scheme so important, providing financial assistance to small and medium businesses, for the first time, to meet their upskilling and reskilling needs. The second area is life-long learning and making sure education is provided in an accessible way so the person in work can access upskilling while holding down a job.

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