Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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5. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the total number of technical or academic students who can expect to improve their respective skills by way of extra higher education options now being provided for; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40050/24]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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My question seeks to ascertain the extent to which students in the academic and technical areas can expect to benefit from the measures proposed by Government throughout the course of the coming year.

Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy. Our further and higher education system plays a central role in ensuring that graduates are equipped with the essential skills that will enhance their employability. It allows graduates to adapt to diverse tasks and contribute meaningfully to the workforce and society. There are approximately 400,000 people enrolled in further and higher education in Ireland, and this is projected to grow further in the coming years. Our Department has prioritised enhancing the responsiveness of the sector to acute skills needs and this work is ongoing. There has been significant investment in additional provision across multiple programmes and disciplines, including landmark agreements for additionality in medicine and other healthcare disciplines both in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. There are many subsidised programmes offered through higher education that allow for upskilling, reskilling and lifelong learning. These include Springboard+, the human capital initiative and micro-credential courses. Many of the courses offered through these programmes focus on areas of skills need such as ICT, construction, and green skills.

Budget 2025 includes an allocation of over €4.5 billion for our Department. This will allow for a significant increase in funding for higher education, including an additional €50 million in core higher education funding from the national training fund, with annual increases in core funding from the national training fund up to a level of €150 million per year by 2030.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State. May I ask the extent to which the respective students in the academic and technical areas can see the improvement manifest itself for them in the course of the coming year and how this is likely to reflect on the market requirements in that area, given that the requirements are increasing all the time?

Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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I wish to point out to the Deputy that our National Skills Council and the nine regional skills fora created under our national skills strategy foster engagement and collaboration between relevant Departments and agencies, the education and training system and enterprise. To secure more effective governance of Ireland's skills ecosystem, the National Skills Council has been reformed in line with the recommendations of the 2023 OECD review of Ireland's national skills strategy. The Minister, Deputy O'Donovan, brought a memo to Government on 9 July advising of the reconstituted membership of that body. It has an independent chair from industry and enterprise, which was identified through an expression of interest process; eight enterprise and industry representatives, also all selected through an expression of interest process; representatives of the social partners nominated by ICTU, Ibec, ISME, and the community and voluntary social partnership pillar; and two skills experts. The newly constituted skills council met for the first time recently on 19 September. Their focus is to continually review our skills needs and to address the requirements or deficits that we have in our system.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for the positive information. May I ask the degree to which indications have been sought or research done into the extent to which this is likely to impact on the marketplace in terms of addressing shortages of skills in each of the areas mentioned?

Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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The regional skills fora are aligned to our education and training board areas. The Deputy will be aware of his own local education and training board, which would be Kildare and Wicklow.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Correct.

Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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My own is the Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board. The regional skills fora are excellent. The regional skills managers do excellent work in that they collaborate on a daily basis on the ground with industry and employers. They are in constant rolling conversation and collaboration, assessing where the gaps are in the pipeline of skills coming out of our colleges and training institutions to meet the gaps in the labour force and the marketplace. There is great credit due, for example to Joe Leddin in my own area, our regional skills manager, and all of the regional skills managers around the country who keep that under constant review.