John Halligan (Waterford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for raising these important questions and for agreeing to postpone this matter from last week for me.

The National Training Fund, NTF, is resourced by a levy on employers of 0.7% of reckonable earnings in respect of employees in classes A and H employments, which represents approximately 75% of all insured employees. The levy is collected through the pay as you earn, PAYE, and pay related social insurance, PRSI, system and funds are transferred monthly to my Department. Funding from the NTF is allocated by me, with the consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, in accordance with the provisions of the National Training Fund Act 2000. While the NTF does not form part of the Vote of my Department, the allocation for each scheme is determined as part of the annual Estimates process. The NTF is included as an annex to the published Estimates of the Department and such funding has been included in the overall expenditure ceiling for my Department since 2011.

Prior to 2012 income from the NTF levy had fallen from a high of €413 million in 2008 to €299 million. However, since 2012, receipts from the NTF levy have increased annually, due to improved employment levels. The NTF levy generated €299 million in 2012, €317 million in 2013, €338 million in 2014, €364 million in 2015 and €390 million in 2016. It should be noted that the operation of the EU fiscal rules and the inclusion of the NTF in the Department of Education and Skills overall annual expenditure ceiling mean that, in the absence of an increased rate of contribution, additional expenditure cannot be sourced from the NTF without a corresponding drop in Exchequer expenditure.

The accumulated surplus in the fund has been critical in maintaining expenditure levels, particularly in the provision of training for the unemployed, in the years when receipts fell below the expenditure levels required. It is considered prudent to continue to maintain an adequate surplus in the fund to meet demand in future years and it should be noted that, while the current surplus of €232 million represents a very significant sum, it would only cover seven months of NTF expenditure at current levels. The surplus remains available for investment in education and training programmes to meet skills needs.

NTF funding is used to raise the skills of those in employment, to provide training to those who wish to acquire skills for the purposes of taking up employment and to provide information relating to existing or future requirements for skills in the economy. The majority of the funding is expended under the broad headings of training for employment and training in employment. Training for employment provides a range of training programmes for jobseekers, including training for early school leavers and for people with disabilities and targeted skills programmes such as Springboard and ICT skills conversion. Training in employment funding supports the training of employed people, primarily the apprenticeship programme and employer-led and contracted training through the Skillnets model.

There has been a shift recently in the focus of investment with more funding allocated to training those in employment and less allocated to training jobseekers, due to the upturn in our economy and growing numbers of people in employment. In 2017, I am providing funding of €366 million from the NTF. As part of this allocation, I have provided an additional €24 million to training those in employment to meet demand which will arise mainly in the expansion of apprenticeship opportunities. I am also reviewing the allocation of funding to programmes in the further education and training and higher education sectors as between NTF and Exchequer sources in terms both of the appropriate emphasis required on training for employment and training persons in employment and of satisfying the needs of enterprise to meet strategic skills requirements.

I hope I have answered the Senator's questions. There is a consultation process and she is more than welcome to contribute to that. I would appreciate her contribution. If I have omitted to mention anything, I will get that information from the Department. I will also be delighted to provide the Senator with any further information she requires.