Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 20 May 2021
326. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the extent to which he expects third and fourth-level student numbers to increase at academic and technical level in the future in line with demand; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27413/21]
View answerThe further and higher education sectors have a number of key strategies in place at all levels to ensure we meet existing and future skills demands. These include policies designed to ensure a pipeline of suitably qualified higher education graduates and apprentices, and initiatives to equip young people and the working population more generally with the skills and capacity to meet these demands.
The identification of skills priorities to help inform and shape planning for graduate output from higher and further education, including in relation to apprenticeships, is guided by the National Skills Strategy. The Strategy provided for the establishment of the skills architecture that we have today, the National Skills Council and the nine Regional Skills Fora. Underpinning both the skills agenda and architecture are the skills forecasting and intelligence systems, made up of the contribution of a number of public bodies including, at present, the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs in the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, the Skills and Labour Market Research Unit in Solas and the statistical analysis and assessment carried out by the HEA. The detailed research and analyses carried out by these bodies feed into the work of the Skills Council in defining the priorities and delivering responses in the area of skills needs.
Projections of enrolment at third level predict that full-time student enrolments will rise by approximately 13% over the next decade, and work is ongoing to build capacity within the system to accommodate this increase. The number of students graduating each year has increased from 66,500 in 2014 to 77,800 in 2019, an increase of 17% in five years.
