Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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1018. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the progress made by his Department in respect of targets and goals set out in sustainable development goals of the 2030 United Nations Agenda for Sustainable Development under the policy remit of his Department; and if these targets and goals will be met by their respective deadlines. [12904/23]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is a significant and ambitious framework. A whole-of-Government approach to its implementation has been taken in Ireland.

Ireland’s Second National Implementation Plan for the Sustainable Development Goals, 2022 – 2024 was published in October 2022. The Plan was developed by the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications in collaboration with all Government Departments, key stakeholders, and based on input from two public consultation processes. A key objective of the Plan is to achieve greater policy coherence for Sustainable Development (PCSD) with the aim of accelerating achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at all levels of Government.

The Plan is supplemented by two supporting documents: an SDG policy map which identifies the lead Departments and relevant national policies for each of the 169 SDG targets; and a Policy Update document which provides policy updates for each of the SDG targets. These documents are available at www.gov.ie/sdgs.

The Central Statistics Office, in collaboration with all Government Departments, has prepared a series of statistical publications which monitor and report on how Ireland is progressing towards meeting its targets under the 17 SDGs. Reports are available for SDGs 1 – 16 and can be found on the central statistics website.

The Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science is the lead Government Department in relation to SDG Targets 4.3, 4.4 and 9.5.

SDG 4.3:

By 2030, ensure equal access for all women and men to affordable and quality technical, vocational and tertiary education, including university;

A range of policy initiatives are being advanced across these areas.

The current Further Education and Training Strategy: Transforming Learning 2020 -2024supports the active inclusion of individuals of all ages and abilities to participate in further education and training to enable every citizen to fully participate in society. The FET strategy is based around three strategic pillars - Building Skills, Fostering Inclusion and Facilitating Pathways. In addition specific enabling themes are outlined in the Strategy to underpin the delivery of the strategic pillars. They are Staffing, Capabilities and Structures, Learner and Performance, Digital Transformation and Capital Infrastructure.

To ensure that the student body entering into, participating in and completing higher education at all levels reflects the diversity and social mix of Ireland's population, the fourth National Access Plan – A Strategic Action Plan for Equity of Access, Participation and Success in Higher Education (2022 – 2028) was launched in August 2022.

The Plan seeks to target vulnerable students or students who have experienced disadvantage and therefore face challenges in accessing higher education and experiencing belonging in higher education. The three main priority groups are: students who are socioeconomically disadvantaged; students who are members of Irish Traveller and Roma communities, and students with disabilities, including intellectual disabilities. The Plan includes national targets for each of these priority groups.

The Programme for Access to Higher Education (PATH) is a dedicated fund, committed to increasing participation by under-represented groups in higher education. In 2022, the PATH fund was increased by €5m to support the implementation of the above mentioned Strategic Action Plan for Equity of Access, Participation and Success in Higher Education 2022 – 2028 for PATH funded measures bringing the annual PATH funding to €14.3m in 2022.

SDG 4.4:

By 2030, substantially increase the number of youth and adults who have relevant skills, including technical and vocational skills, for employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship

Ireland has a system of skills provision that spans Further and Higher Education, lifelong learning, and human capital development and which is agile and responsive to changes in the workplace in order to meet changing skill needs. Several skill initiatives are currently underway to support reskilling, upskilling, and lifelong learning. This includes initiatives such as: Springboard+, the Human Capital Initiative; ; Skills to Compete; ; ; and Apprenticeships, among others.

Upskilling and reskilling provision in higher education is available through Springboard+ and the Human Capital Initiative (HCI). Springboard+ complements the core State-funded education and training system and provides free and subsidised upskilling and reskilling higher education opportunities in areas of identified skills need. Springboard+ courses are at Level 6 (Certificate) to Level 9 (Masters) on the National Framework of Qualifications (NFQ) and are delivered by public and private higher education providers around the country.

Now in its twelfth year, over €330m has been spent on Springboard+ and over 90,000 people have benefited from the programme to date. The Springboard+ programme is managed by the Higher Education Authority, on behalf of the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science.

In 2022/23, over 13,000 places are available through Springboard + and Pillar 1 of the Human Capital Initiative, with in excess of 95% of the courses being delivered in a flexible format, which will enable more people to engage in upskilling and reskilling around the country.

Further Education and Training (FET) provision includes both labour market focused programmes and programmes with a strong social inclusion dimension. These programmes at levels 1-6 of the National Framework of Qualifications (NFQ), focus on providing skills that enable direct progression to the workplace, while also enabling pathways into higher education, and typically have a strong work-based component. They include:

- Skills to Advanceis an employee development policy framework, which provides support for vulnerable groups in the Irish workforce who have lower skills levels and who need more opportunities to avoid displacement or to avail of emerging job opportunities. It allows employers to develop their workforce to adapt to changes in work practices, technology and markets. To date over 39,500 employees have started Skills to Advance training.

- The Skills to Compete initiative, launched in 2020, forms part of the SOLAS Recovery Skills Response Programme, which is part of Ireland’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP). To date, over 29,000 learners have enrolled in Skills to Compete Courses.

SDG 9.5

Enhance scientific research, upgrade the technological capabilities of industrial sectors in all countries, in particular developing countries, including, by 2030, encouraging innovation and substantially increasing the number of research and development workers per 1 million people and public and private research and development spending

Impact 2030, Ireland’s new national research and innovation strategy to 2030, was launched in May 2022. The approach to research and innovation in Ireland aims to ensure that our national investment inresearch and innovation makes as big a difference as possible to as many people as possible. This includes:

A key Strategy indicator to monitor the growth in researchers in the labour force, and initiatives to support researcher mobility beyond academia including, but not limited to, industry.

Ambition to increase investment in research and innovation to 2.5% of the domestic economy by 2030.

A central focus, as outlined in Pillar One, is on the role of research and innovation in delivering on wider policy objectives across society, the economy and the environment, including climate action. The National Grand Challenges Programme , a €71 million all-of-Government endeavour included in Ireland’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan (funded under the EU Recovery and Resilience facility), will incentivise and facilitate researchers and innovators to employ interdisciplinary R&I approaches to tackle national and global societal challenges in support of green transition and digital transformation objectives.

I and my Department are committed to continuing to progress the SDGs and the programmes of work as set out above in order to advance this important agenda.