Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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256. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the funding allocated to the Work Based Education Fund each year since it commenced; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51846/21]

Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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The information requested is being compiled and will be forwarded to the Deputy as soon as possible.

Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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257. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the breakdown of the budgetary allocation that corresponds to the €181 million committed to in the NRRP Priority 3: Social and Economic Recovery and Job Creation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51847/21]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The €181m outlined under NRRP Priority 3 includes:

1. SOLAS skills - €114m

2. Technological University Transformation Fund ("TUTF") - €40m, and

3. The Department of Social Protection ("DSP") Work Place Experience Programme - €27m.

For the SOLAS Skills – the €114m includes

Skillnet Ireland along with SOLAS will work with employers to deliver 20,000 training places to support jobseekers and address key skills areas of the economy. Initiatives funded through the National Recovery & Resilience Plan (NRRP) and include:-  

- SOLAS Green Skills Action Programme: 2,650 additional retrofit and Net Zero Energy Buildings (NZEB) training places plus 35,000 learners to avail of Green Skills modules in 2022, and

- SOLAS Skills to Compete providing an additional 8,900 training places in 2022 for those most affected by the pandemic.

Under the Technological University Transformation Fund, €20m is allocated per year in each of 2022 and 2023.

Please also find document attached outlining measures within Ireland's National Recovery & Resilience Plan (page 8 & 9 relates to Priority 3).

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Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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258. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the details on the budgetary allocation for the National Grand Challenges Programme of mission orientated funding to be rolled out by Science Foundation Ireland as part of the NRRP Priority 1: Advancing the Green Transition; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51848/21]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The National Grand Challenges Programme is a €71.6M programme running until the end of 2026 which is included in Ireland’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan(funded under the EU Recovery and Resilience facility).The programme will incentivise and facilitate researchers and innovators to employ interdisciplinary RD&I approaches to tackle national and global societal challenges in support of green transition and digital transformation objectives.  The overarching goals are to enhance impact from research that is informed by the end-user, ultimately leading to translation, adoption, and behavioural change.  It is anticipated that challenge-based funding initiatives will be launched in several rounds and will involve extensive stakeholder engagement in scoping and delivery. 

Science and innovation for societal benefit represents a key component of Science Foundation Ireland’s strategy - Shaping Our Future - and is central to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals globally.  Seven challenge-based funding calls have been launched by Science Foundation Ireland to date and there is significant ambition to grow these activities further, through capacity building and funding instruments such as the National Grand Challenge Programme. 

Although this is a larger scale initiative, the design of the programme will be based on Science

Foundation Ireland’s expertise and experience to date in challenge research - www.sfi.ie/challenges/