Vol. 428 No. 6
33 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Enterprise and Employment the factors responsible for the fact that Ireland was ranked only 12th in the 22 OECD countries under the heading of human resources which covers competitive advantage of skills, education and training standards in the 1992 world competitiveness report; if this is a relative improvement or otherwise in Ireland's ranking; and the policy measures, if any, he proposes to take to improve this position.
The ranking in question derives from the world competitiveness report which is prepared by a private organisation based in Switzerland. The ranking derives from the particular combination of criteria selected and, at least in part, from value judgment applied to them with which one may or may not agree.
The Deputy will be pleased to know, however, that the ranking is an improvement of five places on a report from the same organisation in respect of 1990 which suggests that we are moving in the right direction.
Our policy response, which is determined by our own assessment of the requirements of the country rather than this particular report, is fully contained in the Programme for a Partnership Government. In particular, in conformity with a recommendation in the Culliton report, it is intended to provide more training for those in employment. In addition, a White Paper on Education is being prepared.
