Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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141. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the extent to which education policy for primary, secondary, third and fourth level needs to adapt or change to meet current and future requirements in the market place; the degree to which he expects to be in a position to facilitate such changes or requirements; if he has in mind any particular objectives and/or deadlines; if he expects the educational system here to be in a position to meet the challenges in the future in an increasingly competitive market place; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2612/13]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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278. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the extent to which he expects the entire educational sector to achieve progress in the current year by way of enhancing the potential of the educational sector to meet the ever increasing demand and competitiveness in the international market place with a view to ensuring the ability of educational to make a major contribution in this country's economic recovery; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3119/13]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 141 and 278 together.

A wide-ranging programme of reform is currently being rolled out across all levels of the education system to ensure the continued development of skills appropriate to enterprise, particularly through the implementation of the National Literacy and Numeracy Strategy and the reform of the Junior Cycle. A range of recommendations to ensure the system continues to respond to enterprise needs is being implemented through the National Strategy for Higher Education. The creation of a new further education and training authority, SOLAS, will also ensure a focus on the needs of enterprise.

The Enterprise Engagement Forum provides for bi-annual dialogue between the Department and enterprise on education policy issues. In addition, research from the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs provides a valuable input to the development of course curricula and has informed the development of new competitive funding models of provision, such as Springboard and Momentum, to address skills needs.