Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 8 September 2022
1357. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the supports that his Department makes available to support the learning of digital skills for adults who do not have any. [44037/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Adult Literacy for Life (ALL) Strategy sets out a cross-government, cross-economy and cross-society approach to achieve the vision of an Ireland where every adult has the necessary literacy, numeracy and digital literacy to engage in society and realise their potential.
As noted in Harnessing Digital -The Digital Ireland Framework, the ALL Strategy is aimed at bridging the digital divide across Irish society including through enhancing broad digital skills. The Strategy, which was launched in September 2021, sets a target of decreasing the share of adults in Ireland without basic digital skills from 47% to 20% by 2030.
A specific website www.adultliteracyforlife.ie has been set up with details of 210 local contacts points across the country. I would encourage everyone to drop in or call their local ETB or contact the National Adult Literacy Agency (NALA) freephone service at 1800 20 20 65 to access support in building their digital skills.
In addition, the Mitigating Against Educational Disadvantage Fund (MAEDF), was put place to address educational disadvantage among adults. This fund supports online learning, connecting communities and providing social supports to the most disadvantaged. The third iteration of MAEDF - now REACH Fund, in 2022 - builds on the success of MAEDF and is aimed at addressing educational disadvantage by placing a strong focus on community education as a mechanism to continue to support and engage with disadvantaged learners, while specifically targeting and enhancing the availability of devices and technology. As such, it supports and enables engagement with education and provides this support in digital-first ways that meet the complex needs of the learners.
