Michael Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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30. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the progress made to date under the National Adult Literacy Strategy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36855/21]

Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein)
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51. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to assess and address the literacy and numeracy levels in the adult population in this country. [36777/21]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 30 and 51 together.

Despite a generally well-educated workforce and technology-driven economy and society, there are many people in Ireland who lack the reading, writing, numeracy, communication and digital skills required to perform essential daily tasks to fully participate in society.

To address this, and as provided for in the Programme for Government, I tasked SOLAS, the Further Education and Training Authority of Ireland, with the development of a new 10 year strategy for adult literacy, numeracy and digital literacy.

The Strategy will take a whole-of-government approach and provide a framework to support individuals to improve their literacy, numeracy and digital literacy. This new Strategy will provide a framework to build on and streamline the substantial work that is already being done across a range of Government departments, state agencies and wider stakeholder groups, to increase awareness of services for the public and to capture the contribution that can be made right across Government to deliver better literacy, numeracy and digital literacy in the adult population. The framework being provided through this new Strategy will also embed the use of literacy friendly provision and plain language to ensure the most accessible public, civil and business services throughout the country. The aim of this new Strategy will be to ensure that everyone has the literacy, numeracy and digital literacy to meet their needs and participate fully in society.

A detailed and extensive research and consultation process was carried out to guide and inform the preparation of the Strategy. The work completed during this process assembled a substantial evidence base that has shaped the content of this strategy. The process was fully inclusive, gathering the insight and expertise of over 2,000 individuals and organisations who contributed to the development process.

The Strategy was approved by Government on 6th July 2021, with a view to publication and launch by the end of this month.