Carol Nolan (Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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65. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his plans for the surplus of the national training fund. [16501/17]

John Halligan (Waterford, Independent)
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Prior to 2012 income from the National Training Fund (NTF) levy had fallen from a high of €413m in 2008 to €299m. However, since 2012, receipts from the NTF levy have increased annually, due to improved employment levels. The accumulated surplus in the Fund has been critical in maintaining expenditure levels, particularly in the provision of training for the unemployed, in a period when receipts were falling.

It is considered prudent to continue to maintain an adequate surplus in the Fund to meet demand in future years and while the surplus represents a very significant sum, it would only cover 7 months NTF expenditure at current levels. In addition, the operation of the EU Fiscal Rules and the inclusion of the NTF in my Department's overall annual expenditure ceiling mean that, in the absence of an increased rate of contribution, additional expenditure cannot be sourced from the NTF without a corresponding drop in Exchequer expenditure. The surplus remains available for investment in education and training programmes to meet skills needs.

I am reviewing the allocation of funding to programmes in the Further Education and Training and Higher Education sectors as between NTF and Exchequer sources in terms both of the emphasis required on training for employment and training persons in employment and of satisfying the needs of enterprise to meet strategic skills requirements. One objective of this review is to direct NTF allocations in a manner that best reflects enterprise priorities as identified through the revised national skills architecture.