Dara Calleary
Question:114. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Education and Skills the way he proposes to address the skill deficit here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3319/13]
View answerWednesday, 6 March 2013
Questions (114)
Written answers
The Expert Group on Future Skills Needs, which is funded by my Department, plays a key role in advising on future skills needs and any emerging gaps. Its research provides a valuable input to the development of course curricula and has also informed the development of new competitive funding models of provision to address emerging skills needs. The Springboard programme targets funding of free part time higher education courses for unemployed people in areas where there are identified skills shortages. More than 10,000 places have been provided under the two rounds of the programme to date. A new call for proposals for courses to be run under the programme in 2013 issued to higher education providers at the end of February.
The joint Government-Industry ICT Action Plan has been developed as a direct response to identified ICT skills shortages and contains a comprehensive range of measures to build the domestic supply of ICT graduates, including through the roll out of graduate skills conversion courses. In February 2013 more than 760 new places were made available on the conversion courses in higher education institutions around the country. This is in addition to the more than 700 places that were provided in 2012. 6,500 training places are currently being rolled out for unemployed people under the Momentum programme. The training, which is aligned up to levels 5 and 6 on the National Framework of Qualifications, is targeted at areas of labour market demand and there is a particular focus on the needs of unemployed people under the age of 25. Funding is also provided to Skillnets, where the development of training is led by representatives of industry ensuring that training provision meets the needs of the sector.
In addition, a range of recommendations to ensure the system continues to respond to enterprise needs is being implemented through the National Strategy for Higher Education. The creation of a new further education and training authority, SOLAS, will also ensure a focus on the evolving skills requirements of industry.