Donna McGettigan (Clare, Sinn Fein)
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971. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the reason his Department’s programme expenditure has decided to decrease the outrun target numbers of places for Skillnet Ireland learners upskilling who are unemployed from the outrun target of 2,650 in 2023, 1,800 in 2024 and only 1,500 in 2025; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32541/25]

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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Skillnet Ireland is a business support agency of the Government of Ireland funded by the National Training Fund. Using funding provided by my Department, it continues to invest in workforce activation programmes via its ‘Skills Connect’ programme which is designed to help businesses meet emerging talent needs, while helping workers to rapidly reskill and adapt to a changing job market. Designed in partnership with enterprise, ‘Skills Connect’ identifies skills that are in demand from businesses within a sector or region, as well as skills that are transferable across sectors. It delivers upskilling and re-skilling programmes that enable rapid re-entry into the workforce.

Each year, my Department, in consultation with Skillnet Ireland, determines annual targets aligned with the available budget for Skillnet Ireland programmes for unemployed learners seeking employment. The headline target for ‘Skills Connect’ has declined annually since 2023 due to the end of temporary funding that had supplemented Skillnet Ireland’s core budget, enabling increased training in 2023 and 2024. In 2024, Skillnet Ireland’s ‘Skills Connect’ programme supported 2,046 trainees across 26 Skillnet Business Networks exceeding the target of 1,800.

The Deputy will appreciate that the figures provided constitute forecasts rather than fixed targets, given that all programmes delivered by Skillnet Ireland are demand-led and subject to variation accordingly.

Donna McGettigan (Clare, Sinn Fein)
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972. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the reason his Department has continued to decrease the number of Springboard places available from the 2023 outturn target of 9,245 places; 8,225 places in 2024 and just 8,000 in 2025; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32585/25]

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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Springboard+, established in 2011 continues to play a vital role in expanding access to higher education by offering flexible, work focused learning opportunities to adult learners across the country. Aligned with national skills priorities, Springboard+ supports individuals to upskill or reskill in high-demand areas such as ICT, cybersecurity and sustainability.

Springboard+ is free or heavily subsidised and offered in a flexible format (part-time, blended, and online) making higher education more accessible to all. In May 2025, I was delighted to launch Springboard+ 2025, which is providing almost 8,000 places on 249 courses and includes micro-credentials.

Springboard+ is open to the unemployed, employed and those returning to the workforce, subject to meeting eligibility criteria. It has demonstrated strong outcomes in terms of learner progression and graduate employability, with the majority of participants securing employment or further study upon completion.

As demand grows for a skilled and adaptable workforce, Springboard+ will continue to be an important driver of increased participation in higher education.

An increased budget allocation for Springboard+ was awarded as a temporary Government response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the years 2020-2022. The reduction in the budget allocation for Springboard+ after 2022 is the principal reason for the reduction in the number of places funded – and thus enrolments – from 2023 onwards.

Springboard+ was funded on a multiannual basis for the 2022/23, 2023/24 and 2024/24 academic years. As per the Provider Contract with the HEA, courses are required to fill at least 75% of places to be re-funded in subsequent years, and any course that did not reach this threshold or any courses that did not run in 2023/24 would not have been re-funded in 2024/25, thus reducing the number of places funded between those programme years.

In relation the number of places funded in 2025, there was a new Call for Proposals earlier this year and the average cost of delivering a course has increased by 11% since the last Call in 2022. Increased administrative costs, including data retention and storage space costs, have also been experienced over time. Additional costs have also been incurred owing to the inclusion of Micro-credentials under Springboard+ 2025.