Seán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)

I apologise to the House because I have laryngitis and I hope Members will bear with me.

I welcome this opportunity to discuss the national skills strategy and its implementation. Ireland's ability to compete in an ever increasingly competitive global marketplace is now more than ever dependent on the skills and competencies of our labour force. The Government has long recognised that Ireland needs to have a competitive advantage in the area of skills to ensure it stays ahead of its competitors. Investment in education and training is key to securing competitive advantage. Our success in transforming our nation in both its economic and social development can be directly linked to our past investment in education and training and such investment will increase under the Government.

Investment in education and training is not the sole reason for the dramatic transformation we have experienced over the past 15 years. However, without this investment, our workforce would never have become the bedrock for our remarkable success over recent times. In the information age, only competitive and knowledge-based economies have a future. The capacity for adding value, high productivity rates, and a high skills profile of the population will create economic and social progress. As one of the world's most open economies, these features particularly apply to Ireland.

We have been successful in attracting major international corporations to invest and support the development of indigenous business. However, key to both policies is the strength of our education and training system and the high level of skills of our graduates. The profile of employment has changed in this country over the years. We now have more and better paid jobs, an expanding services sector and a modern, expanding and evolving economy which is exactly as it should be. Our continued evolution as an economy is dependent on the skills of our citizens. Our future success will be determined by our ability to continue to meet the needs of enterprise.

Recognising that future skills needs will play an ever increasingly important role in determining the future prosperity of our country, the Government established the expert group on future skills needs in 1997. The expert group is representative of the major private and public interest groupings. Its core function is to continuously and closely monitor changes in the labour market, to anticipate movements in demand for skills and to ensure necessary adaptations are introduced. In 2005 the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment asked the expert group to undertake a forecasting analysis and to map Ireland's labour market and skills needs to 2020. This report, Tomorrow's Skills — Towards a National Skills Strategy, was launched early in 2007.

The national skills strategy contains an ambitious vision for the skills profile in Ireland in 2020. It shows clearly that if Ireland is to progress ahead of our competitors then we need to increase our focus on skills development at a number of levels. First, it shows that more than 70% or almost 1.5 million of our current workforce will still be in employment in 2020. It is vital, therefore, for our continued economic success that this cohort achieves its potential. Second, and probably most important, an additional 500,000 people need to be upskilled by at least one level on the national framework of qualifications by 2020. Third, it needs to be ensured the output from our education system reaches its potential. This will involve increasing focus on improving participation rates in upper secondary level to 90% and ensuring the progression rate to third level increases to 70%. Fourth, we need to address the skills needs of the immigrant population and those wishing to re-enter employment.

The strategy also contains employment forecasts on a sectoral basis for the period up to 2020. These forecasts suggest certain sectors, such as the services and high value manufacturing sectors, will continue to experience employment growth in the years ahead. However, employment in other sectors is expected to remain constant or, in some cases such as agriculture and traditional manufacturing, decrease. This means we must prepare accordingly. The strategy has helped us to target specific skills and sectors that will become increasingly important in the next few years. It has allowed us to identify and address specific gaps in our skills base and it will help us to build an education and training system that will allow us to adapt quickly and respond to the changing global business environment. The national skills strategy will facilitate the development of Ireland's competitive advantage in world class skills, education and training.

The strategy is not a stand-alone policy initiative. It builds on Government policy, including the strategy for science, technology and innovation, the social partnership agreement, Towards 2016, and the national development plan, all of which contain specific commitments aimed at upskilling the workforce. These documents have set the agenda and objectives for what Ireland must achieve over the medium term if we are to continue to maintain and enhance further the living standards of our citizens. In an ever-expanding global marketplace the Government is committed to ensuring Ireland continues to embrace its transition to a knowledge-based economy.

The focus has turned towards the implementation of the strategy. Given the broad nature of the objectives contained in it, an integrated approach led by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and the Department of Education and Science is required. An interdepartmental committee has been established to achieve this and I will chair the first meeting of that committee tomorrow. It will oversee the development of an implementation plan and its subsequent delivery and will consist of senior officials from the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, the Department of Education and Science and the Department of Finance.

The implementation plan will examine the existing provision of education and training and determine the key areas and initiatives that will require additional focus to achieve the objectives of the national skills strategy. It will also determine the key benchmarks and targets that will be monitored progressively over the 12-year period to 2020. I look forward to driving this process forward and am confident we will be successful in implementing the vision contained in the strategy.

While the first meeting of the interdepartmental committee takes place tomorrow, significant progress has occurred already in terms of implementing several of the objectives of the strategy. For example, in parallel with the establishment of the interdepartmental committee, the expert group on future skills needs was asked to examine the potential of a number of innovative measures to incentivise both employers and employees to engage more fully in education and training. The measures under review include paid learning leave, individual learning accounts for employees, brokerage services to help firms identify training needs and source suitable training, tax measures to increase the numbers undertaking training and upskilling, and the potential of regional advisory groups. The findings of the expert group will be considered in the context of developing the implementation plan for the skills strategy.

While the State has a key role to play in achieving the vision contained in the national skills strategy, enterprises and individuals also have a major role to play. Enterprises need to identify clearly and articulate their short and long-term skills needs. This needs to be communicated proactively to education and training providers at regional, sectoral and national levels. Enterprises also need to work in collaboration with providers in developing programmes that respond to these needs.

Public funds must be targeted at those who otherwise would not receive training, especially the low skilled. In this regard, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment has instructed its two key training agencies, FÁS and Skillnets, to increase their focus on this cohort, and has been active and innovative in the provision of training for this group. This has resulted in new measures being launched which aim to work with employer and trade union representatives in providing training for the low skilled. In particular, the strategic alliance project between FÁS and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions has allowed for the training of trade union representatives in identifying the education, training and personal development needs of members and work colleagues.

There is a special challenge for the higher education system as we strive to achieve key objectives, such as doubling the number of PhDs and growing our participation rate from 55% to 72%. This growth will be accompanied by a greater diversity in our student population, including diversity in terms of previous academic attainment, which in turn will create challenges regarding the development of new and appropriate teaching and learning methodologies. The growth must be managed so that high quality teaching, learning and assessment continue to drive the system.

The Government is committed to the implementation of the national skills strategy and to continuing to improve and refine publicly funded education and training programmes. Over the course of the current national development plan, we will invest approximately €7.7 billion in the training and skills development programme. This will include investment in the upskilling of the workforce, offer enhanced opportunities for school leavers, invest in the activation agenda and increase the participation and engagement in the workforce of individuals who are not participating at present.

We must realise that the achievement of the vision set out in the national skills strategy will be dependent not only on the Government but also on the willingness of employers, trade unions and individuals to commit to the need to upskill and participate actively in lifelong learning which will be crucial in enabling all learners to engage in the pursuit of ongoing education and training. Education and training should be seen not only as the preserve of the younger generation but as an essential tool in the development of people within and outside of the workforce at whatever stage of their life they may be. Only in this way will we enhance and contribute to the development of a knowledge-based economy.

Accordingly, we must encourage greater participation in lifelong learning by facilitating and motivating employees to increase their skills levels and qualifications, to acquire new skills and knowledge in different areas and to renew existing skills to stay abreast of technology and other developments. This is something on which the Government has been focusing in recent years and it will continue to do so. I am determined the interdepartmental committee will work effectively to realise the objectives of the national skills strategy. Given the positive commitment of all, I have no doubt measurable progress will continue to be a primary feature of our education and training systems.