Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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2623.To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the current surplus in the national training fund; the uses to which it can be applied; the barriers in place to it’s spend; the spending that was applied in 2023; the purposes of said spend; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32989/24]

Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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The accumulated surplus in the National Training Fund at end 2023 is €1.54billion.

In accordance with section 7 of the National Training Fund Act, 2000 the Fund can be used to raise the skills of those in employment; to provide training to those who wish to acquire skills to take up employment and to provide information in relation to skills requirements in the economy.

Section 2 of the 2000 Act provides for the Fund to consist of a current account and an investment account, with the Minister for Public Expenditure NDP Delivery and Reform having responsibility for the management and control of the investment account. Subsection 2(9) provides that investments can take the form of

(a) the application of moneys in the investment account towards the acquisition, holding or disposal of any rights or interests, direct or indirect, in any securities other than shares, or

(b) the placing of them in deposit accounts in any financial institution or the investment of them in short term financial products, such as certificates of deposit or commercial paper, issued by any person, in the currency of the State in or outside of the State.

As noted in the NTF Accounts, the surplus in the NTF is held in Exchequer Notes with the National Treasury Management Agency.

Plans to spend the significant and growing surplus in the National Training Fund must be considered within the context of the Government’s overall budgetary policy. Any increase in NTF expenditure, all other things being equal and without a corresponding reduction on the Vote, requires an increase in my Department’s and the overall Government expenditure ceilings.

There is ongoing engagement across Government in relation to the NTF surplus and the recent Summer Economic Statement notes that the total expenditure ceiling of €105.4bn will accommodate new measures in line with Government priorities including in relation to measures funded from the National Training Fund.

The 2023 NTF Financial Statements, which will be laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas when audited by the C&AG, report NTF income of €1.080 billion and expenditure of €0.909 billion resulting in an annual surplus of €171 million. The expenditure of €909.434 million included the following expenditure on schemes under section 7, in addition to €46,000 on banking and audit fees: