Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 17 September 2014
1300. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills if her Department has conducted any research on the costs involved to address the literacy problems held by one in four adults here. [33623/14]
View answerSOLAS, the Further Education and Training (FET) Authority, through the annual Service Plan process will allocate funding to Education and Training Boards based on the level of demand identified for programmes, including adult literacy. The level of funding provided will also depend on the overall budgetary position. The annual funding provision for the Adult Literacy Programme has been maintained at €30 million in recent years.
Of course addressing adult literacy problems is not just an issue of resources. A major review of adult literacy was completed in 2013 and sets out a series of recommendations on how adult literacy services can be more effective. These recommendations have been taken forward through revising the operational guidelines governing the service and are reflected in the Further Education and Training Strategy 2014-19. It should also be noted that one in six Irish adults were at or below level 1 in the 2012 PIAAC survey. While much work remains to be done in this area, it is a significant improvement on the figure quoted by the Deputy, which comes from a 1997 survey.
