John Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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Question 19: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he is committed to expanding participation in higher education in order for Ireland to achieve its ambitions for recovery and development; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34752/11]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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Ireland currently performs very strongly in terms of participation in higher education and has the highest tertiary attainment rate among 25-34 year olds in the European Union. Projections published by my Department in June of this year show that the demand for higher education in Ireland is set to grow by 62% in the next twenty years.

While welcome, the scale of projected growth will present major challenges for Ireland's higher education system in ensuring that student numbers can be accommodated in a sustainable way that does not compromise high quality outcomes.

The National Strategy for Higher Education makes a number of recommendations for system development, flexibility, efficiency and change aimed at supporting sustainable growth. Implementation of strategy recommendations is underway and as part of this the HEA has just completed an initial report on system sustainability with respect to numbers growth, funding and quality. This is now under consideration.