Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 5 July 2016
166. Deputy Thomas Byrne asked the Minister for Education and Skills to provide details of any recent studies, undertaken or commissioned by his Department, of how Ireland compares internationally on macro indicators of lifelong learning; if he will outline the results and conclusions of these studies; and his views on policies to improve lifelong learning here. [19109/16]
View answerThe Skills and Labour Market Research Unit in SOLAS, on behalf of the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs (EGFSN), monitors participation in lifelong learning in Ireland, comparing the results with other EU Countries. Reports on this monitoring work are published on the EGFSN website www.skillsireland.ie. The most recently published report relates to data collected from the Quarter 4 2014 Quarterly National Household Survey (QNHS). Work is nearing completion on results collected from the Quarter 4 2015 QNHS report which will be compared with data from Eurostat, the EU's statistical agency, to show how Ireland compares to other EU countries. That report will shortly be published on the EGFSN website. The new National Skills Strategy, highlights the importance of lifelong learning and outlines a number of actions aimed at promoting and supporting participation. The Strategy has set targets to increase life long learning participation rates to 10% in 2020 and 15% by 2025.
