Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats)
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138. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the value of the national training fund for each of the past ten years; the allocations that have been made from this fund since 2016, in tabular form; the process by which these allocation were decided; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14522/18]

John Halligan (Waterford, Independent)
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The National Training Fund Act, 2000 provides for a levy on employers to be used to give skills or to raise skills amongst those in, or seeking, employment.

Funding from the National Training Fund (NTF) is allocated by my Department with the consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, in accordance with the provisions of the National Training Fund Act, 2000.

Section 7 of the National Training Fund Act, 2000 provides that payments may be made from the Fund in respect of schemes, which are established to:

(a) raise the skills of those in employment;

(b)  provide training to those who wish to acquire skills to take up employment; or

(c)  provide information in relation to existing, or likely future, requirements for skills in the economy.

While the NTF does not form part of the Vote of my Department, the allocation for each scheme is determined as part of the annual Estimates process. The NTF is included as an annex to the published Estimates and such funding is included in the overall expenditure ceiling for my Department since 2011. 

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.

Following a consultation process, the Government, as part of Budget 2018, decided to raise the rate of the National Training Fund (NTF) levy by 0.1% in 2018 to 0.8% and by a further 0.1% in both 2019 and 2020. This measure allows for additional expenditure of €47.5 million from the NTF in 2018 under the EU fiscal rules.

This increase in the NTF levy takes account of the benefit to employers of having access to skilled graduates across further education and training and higher education to meet their identified skills needs as well as being able to access training for their current employees.

The increase is being accompanied by a programme of reforms in how the NTF is managed, evaluated and reported on. The key reforms include:

- A Comprehensive Review of the NTF

- Additional and refocused expenditure on programmes relevant to employers 

- An NTF more aligned with employer needs

- A greater say for employers, more transparency and stronger evaluation: 

- A new strategic dialogue model, incorporating strategic performance agreements clearly aligning local/regional and national targets, will be put in place in the Further Education and Training sector from 2018.

There has already been a need to change and rebalance the suite of funded programmes to reflect the changing labour market conditions and areas of skills needs.  The 2018 NTF allocations represent a shift in the focus of expenditure from the Fund. Programmes are focused on labour market skill needs across higher education, further education and training and other partners. 

The following tables outline NTF levy receipts for the period 2008 to 2017 and the allocation of NTF Funding 2016 to 2018.

National Training Fund National Training Fund Levy Receipts (€m)

2008 - 2017

National Training Fund

Allocation of Funding 2016 – 2018