Maeve O'Connell (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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870. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to report on the work of his Department in implementing the 2023 OECD review of Ireland's national skills strategy's recommendations. [27303/25]

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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The OECD Skills Strategy Review (May 2023) concluded a 15-month project led by my department in partnership with the OECD; to comprehensively review Ireland’s skills strategies, structures, and approaches to ensure they are fit for purpose and future-ready. The review provides a blueprint for Ireland’s skills approach into the future that will enable Irish society and economy to thrive in an increasingly interconnected and rapidly changing world.

Since the review, there has been considerable progress across government under each of the four priority recommendations. Some examples of this progress are outlined below.

1. Securing a balance in skills through a responsive and diversified supply of skills.

Increased investment from the National Training Fund (NTF) Act, delivering a major boost for higher education, skills, and research and covering cover new areas including capital investment, core higher education funding, and research supports.

The Strategic Framework for Lifelong Guidance was published in December 2024 and outlines a seven-year plan to bring focus and coherence to existing guidance services.

To improve navigability of careers options, a career Guidance and Information Portal is currently being developed to provide more targeted information for people already in the workforce.

My department is working in partnership with SOLAS to develop the new FET Strategy (2025-2029). There is also a focus on cohering guidance within the FET sector and FET College of the Future (FET transformation).

Our continued efforts under the Pathways to Work Strategy has enabled access to upskilling and reskilling opportunities for the unemployed and returners, for example through Springboard+, eCollege and Skillnet Ireland’s Skills Connect programme.

The updated Pathways to Work 2021-2025 strategy was published in May 2024. New and revised commitments and KPIs have been included within to address existing and medium to longer term economic challenges such as labour and skills shortages, the green and digital transitions and the need to increase participation rates for disadvantaged groups.

The National Apprenticeship Office and National Tertiary Office were established.

Tailored supports have been introduced under National Access Plan to access tertiary education for vulnerable cohorts.

2. Fostering greater participation in lifelong learning in and outside the workplace.

An SME Incentivisation Scheme to facilitate upskilling and re-skilling in SMEs will be rolled out later this year.

Several Pathfinder Projects are also being rolled out in 2025, including those specifically targeted at older workers, and through non-traditional delivery channels.

We are providing more supports for vulnerable cohorts through implementation of the National Access Plan and the 10-year Adult Literacy for All (ALL) strategy.

Our continued efforts to increase flexibility of learning modalities and supports include the Micro-Credentials Learner Fee Subsidy.

We have established supports for SMEs to develop their workforce through the SOLAS Skills to Advance Initiative.

The Regional Skills Fora, who function as a single contact point in each region are helping employers connect with the range of services and supports available across the education and training.

3. Leveraging skills to drive innovation and strengthen firm performance.

The formation of Taighde Éireann (Research Ireland) in August 2024 is a key development to aid the building of a more effective and cohesive national research and innovation ecosystem.

We have reinforced Skillnet Ireland’s mandate as a Government of Ireland agency to spearhead workforce development for the enterprise sector with a particular emphasis placed on SMEs (in 2024, Skillnet Ireland provided upskilling programmes to nearly 98,000 workers across 26,000 companies).

4. Strengthening skills governance to build a joined-up skills ecosystem.

As part of the governance recommendations the OECD proposed a reconstitution of the National Skills Council (NSC), to secure more effective governance of Ireland’s skills ecosystem. Specifically, the OECD urged that the Council should be configured differently to its previous composition, which was dominated by public sector representatives.

As per the OECD recommendation, the reformed Council was established in 2024 and is now an advisory, non-statutory body made up of high-level representatives from Irish industry, social partners and main non-governmental stakeholders.

The Council’s mandate is to provide strategic advice to my department on skills policy, assist in the development and implementation of skills priorities, assess critical strategic risks and opportunities in the areas of skills and talent and provide a forum for the optimisation of enterprise engagement.

The National Skills Council will deliver its inaugural publication and present accompanying strategic advice to Government in the coming months.