John Lyons (Dublin North West, Labour)
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Question 76: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills in view of the importance for prospective employees of training to develop specialised skill sets, particularly in the area of ICT, as stated by the expert group on future skills needs; if he will outline the measures under consideration by the SOLAS Implementation Group to respond to this policy recommendation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31199/12]

Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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The role of the SOLAS Implementation Group is to manage the change process involved in establishing SOLAS within the context of a wider ambitious programme of reform of the training and further education sectors. As such it is considering the broad policy orientations required for the new agency and the sector in general. This includes the need for courses to be responsive to changing skills needs, including in the area of ICT.

A wide range of ICT courses are already being provided to meet the differing needs of learners and industry. In addition FÁS is in the process of developing a number of ICT courses including cloud computing to expand its existing range of courses.