Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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36. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his short-term and medium-term proposals to meet the education and skills requirements of a modern economy, given the needs of the manufacturing and service sectors; if he expects to provide sufficient apprenticeships to satisfy current and future requirements; if he has identified any specific areas that require special attention. [18261/16]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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My Department published a new National Skills Strategy in January 2016. The purpose of this new Strategy is to provide a framework for skills development that will help drive Ireland's growth both economically and societally over the next decade. Through the vision, objectives, actions and indicators, the Strategy will support the development of a well-educated, well-skilled and adaptable labour force, creating and sustaining a strong pool of talented people of all ages throughout Ireland.

The Strategy underlines the importance of employer participation in the development and effective of use of skills. This can happen through influencing the skills development of graduates, upskilling existing staff and by supporting knowledge transfer between educational institutions and enterprises. The Strategy sets out new structures to drive better engagement between employers, education and training providers and other stakeholders. I will be appointing a new National Skills Council, which will oversee Strategy implementation and consider and respond to labour market trends and sectoral needs.

A network of 9 Regional Skills Fora has also been established to foster greater engagement between the education and training system, employers and other enterprise stakeholders in building the skills of each region. The fora provide a vehicle for close co-operation at regional level between education and training providers and enterprise, between the different education and training providers themselves and a local link with the implementation of other strategies such as the Regional Action Plans for Jobs and Pathways to Work.

The expansion of the apprenticeship system is one of my key priorities and I am encouraged by the increase in apprenticeship registrations in existing trades and the progress being made in introducing new apprenticeships, focusing initially on the 25 priority proposals identified by the Apprenticeship Council through their public call. In the Programme for a Partnership. Government we have committed to double the number of apprenticeships by 2020. We will target 100 different apprenticeship schemes spread across sectors of the economy and in every region of Ireland.