Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 12 June 2018
305. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for Education and Skills the status of the €1 million allocated to new expenditure on regional upskilling and reskilling as outlined in budget 2018; the amount of the allocation that has been spent; the way in which the funds were spent; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24313/18]
View answerThe €1m allocated to new expenditure on regional upskilling and reskilling as outlined in the Estimates for 2018 is being made available for Regional Skills Fora to support innovative new responses to skills requirements in the regions.
As the Deputy may be aware the Regional Skills Fora are playing a crucial role in ensuring that planning for meeting key skills needs is informed and guided by information, evidence and assessments adopting a regional perspective.
This is in keeping with the regional development and growth objectives highlighted in the National Development Plan and the National Planning Framework that comprise Ireland Project 2040. The greater adoption of a regionally based approach to analysing and responding to skills needs is a critical element of the Government's strategy.
In specific terms, the Fund will support, for example, the ‘Skills for Growth Project’ which gives individual enterprises a new skills audit tool to articulate their skills needs alongside one to one assistance from Regional Skills Fora Managers to support them to link directly with the education and training system to develop responses to those needs.
It will also be applied to relevant skills related collaborative projects involving regional enterprise, alongside education and training providers. Just last week I launched such an initiative, the EXPLORE initiative.
The key objective of the initiative is to create a potential new solution to help address the issue of Ireland’s low level of participation in lifelong learning amongst the Irish workforce, targeting particularly persons over 35 years of age in manufacturing employment. It seeks to;
- Address the lack digital skills in this cohort
- Provide a novel approach to overcome barriers to participation in life-long learning
- address the key issue of skills obsolescence which is a significant concern for employers
- showcase the benefits of collaboration between local Education and Training providers and industry
The focus on this cohort is based on the evidence both internationally, nationally and regionally and in light of the recent National Skills Council decision to prioritise Lifelong learning for 2018.
The Regional Skills Fora have a key role in leveraging their existing network to identify and create solutions that deliver work-relevant skills for this target group and it is planned to offer the programme to 400 individuals before the end of 2018.
