Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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129. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the extent to which he remains satisfied that progress in expanding higher educational opportunities to date is sufficient to facilitate an upsurge in economic activity post-Covid-19 and as a result an increased need for third and fourth-level technical academic graduates; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26956/21]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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307. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the extent to which extra provision is being made to extend and expand third and fourth-level education with particular reference to the ongoing requirements of the jobs market and the need to respond on a continuing basis; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5975/21]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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327. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he remains satisfied with the number of students at third and fourth-level pursuing academic or technical goals with a view to maximising the ability of Irish graduates in their respective fields; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27414/21]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 129, 307 and 327 together.

The expansion of higher education has been a key enabling factor in the growth of the Irish economy, and the availability and quality of graduates is essential if we are to maintain our attractiveness as a location for investment and grow our reputation.

My Department has a number of key strategies in place at all levels to ensure to meet the ongoing requirements of the jobs market. These include policies designed to ensure a pipeline of suitably qualified graduates, and initiatives to equip young people and the working population more generally with the skills and capacity to meet these demands. These strategies and initiatives include: the National Skills Strategy 2025; Technology Skills 2022; Springboard+; the Human Capital Initiative and the July Stimulus package.

A key element of Future Jobs Ireland is to support business, invest in the development of people and to enhance skills and develop and attract talent to ensure our education and training system is responsive to enterprise needs. Strong collaborative links between the further and higher education system and enterprise have been developed and expanded over recent years. These new relationships allow us to gather insights and data directly from enterprise that feed into high level national policy decisions and allow us to know exactly what enterprise wants us to deliver. Representatives from the further and higher education system are also active partners in national initiatives driven by the National Skills Council and the Regional Skills Fora.

Postgraduate education delivered by higher education institutions is critical to Ireland’s research system. In addition to contributing to knowledge, postgraduate researcher education drives participants to develop their own research and innovation skills that can be applied in a range of environments, in academia or industry, at home or abroad.

At postgraduate level, the Irish Research Council funds graduates across all disciplines and is an important component in the wider national strategic pursuit of a strong talent pipeline of research graduates.

Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) has commenced a programme to support advanced PhD skills and training, in collaboration with industry, for the new economy. There is a number of SFI Centres for Research Training (CRT) linked to the higher education institutions and there is an ambition to do more. The six we have currently are supporting over 700 PhD students in ICT and data analytics. The first 120 students commenced in September 2019. Through the CRTs, students will be equipped with transversal skills including entrepreneurship and innovation to enable them to adapt and react to rapidly evolving workplaces and making them a very attractive skills pipeline for industry.

My Department will continue to align our further and higher education policies with what is required in the workplace to meet the needs of the economy. We will do this by working with industry to address current needs and, looking beyond the current world of work, by equipping individuals with the skills they need to succeed in the changing labour market.