Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein)
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Question 92: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the position regarding the joint work undertaken by the skills expert group and the expert group on future skills to access the skills demand across the island of Ireland and the implementation of their recommendations; the steps taken by him in conjunction with the relevant Department in the North to address the current and future skills needs across the Island; if he will detail meetings held with the relevant Minister in the North on developing a comprehensive and co-ordinated approach to meeting the skills needs across the island; if he will detail discussions held with the relevant Minister in the North to ensure the delivery of effective and efficient skills training to meet the needs of Border counties; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20250/11]

Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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I understand from Forfás, Ireland's policy advisory board for enterprise, trade, science, technology and innovation, that in recent years there have been many examples of both Forfás and the Northern Ireland Department for Employment and Learning working together to share information and to understand more fully the labour market on both parts of the island of Ireland. These include joint meetings of the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs and the (then) Northern Ireland Skills Expert Group, the production of the All Island Skills Report the All Island Skills Conference in 2008 and the steering of research into management skills North and South.

A Comprehensive Study on the All-Island economy (2006) commissioned by the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference, emphasised the benefits of working together in a co-ordinated way to ensure that the necessary skills are in place to encourage sustained growth. The two skills expert groups established North and South – the NI Skills Expert Group and the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs agreed to work together on an All-Island Skills Study to provide the evidence for delivering the required workforce skills across the island. This Study was completed in October 2008 and provides an evidence base for future partnership and effective working between the two skills expert groups by providing a comprehensive picture of skills demand on an All-Island basis.

The Study was launched at a conference held in Derry on 9th October 2008. The conference provided an opportunity to share good practice and maximise opportunities for future North/South cooperation. It discussed future challenges and opportunities facing economies North/South and potential responses to help sustain future economic and social development. Since then a number of meetings have been held between the chairperson and head of the Education, Skills and Labour Market Policy, Forfás and the new Northern Ireland Skills Adviser. The purpose of the meetings is to provide an exchange of information on the role, functions and work of the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs and on the prospective work of the Northern Ireland Skills Adviser and on respective research work being undertaken – such as on the demand for high-level ICT skills and the skills demand needs of the green economy.

A senior Forfás official is a member of the Northern Ireland Employment & Skills Advisory Group and provides input and advice into discussions and sharing of related information on learning arising from the work of the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs on a regular basis. I also understand that the CEO Forfás addressed the Department for Employment and Learning's Annual Skills Conference in Belfast on 25 May 2011.

As regards North South cooperation in the education sphere, in the context of the terms of the Good Friday Agreement, my Department co-operates with the Department of Education Northern Ireland to take forward this co-operation through the structures of the North South Ministerial Council (NSMC) in four designated areas of cooperation: special education needs, educational underachievement, teacher qualifications and superannuation and school, youth and teacher exchanges. The area of skills training is not currently an agreed area of North South cooperation in this context.

The Northern Ireland Department of Employment and Learning (DEL) has responsibility for further/vocational and higher education matters as well as employment matters and skills training in Northern Ireland. While my Department does not formally engage with DEL within the structures of the NSMC, both Departments liaise on North South education cooperation issues as required. There is also good co-operation between third level institutions in both jurisdictions in relation to third level courses and research programmes. My colleague, Minister Ruairí Quinn T.D., will be meeting with Minister Stephen Farry, M.L.A., the Northern Ireland Minister for Employment and Learning, next week on a bilateral basis to further the process of developing closer linkages between the two Departments and to discuss areas where joint working might prove beneficial.