Richard Bruton: Industry should pay more for education
EDUCATION is central to our ambition as a nation. It unlocks the door to fulfilling work, and the talent it creates drives the success of our enterprises. That is why I have set the ambition to make the Irish education and training service the best in Europe within a decade.
Whether it is winning future foreign direct investment, or helping Irish enterprises to innovate, diversify and grow jobs, our success will depend on how we develop, nurture and deploy talent. Enterprise has a massive interest in the effective delivery of this ambition.
We need to invest and we need to achieve more. In order to respond effectively to the challenges ahead we have to put in place a sustainable funding model for the higher and further education and training sectors.
Yesterday Minister Paschal Donohoe and I hosted a forum with employers and other stakeholders to discuss our proposal to increase the training levy paid by employers.
It is reasonable to ask employers to contribute more as their future success depends so much on the capacity of the education sector to respond to their needs. However, in return for contributing more, employers must have a greater role in shaping the type of education and training that is delivered.
The education sector has to respond to changing needs and opportunities. Through the apprenticeship plan I will treble the number of apprenticeship places. We will provide 50,000 upskilling and reskilling places over the next five years. We will see better results from our research and innovation investment.
However, significant new investment is needed. Last year an expert group led by Peter Cassells said that we have to increase funding into the sector by €600m
by 2021 and €1bn by 2030.
I have moved forward to immediately increase funding into the sector. Doing nothing is not an option.
Firstly, I secured €36.5m in extra funding for 2017, and at least €160m in additional funding over a three-year period, from the Exchequer. This is the first major increase for the sector in nine years.
Secondly, I published a consultation paper which proposed to increase the contribution paid by employers. This would have a big impact. For example, if we increase the training levy paid by employers by 0.1pc per year for the next three years, this would put €200m extra into the sector.
This is more than asking employers to contribute more to the cost of running the higher and further education sectors. This is an opportunity to build enduring links between enterprise and our centres of talent and innovation.
There was a very constructive discussion at the forum. Employers talked of the need to increase the responsiveness of the education system, of creating better outreach models to help smaller companies to engage, and of tailoring programmes more flexibly to meet the pressures of the working environment.
From my time as Jobs Minister I saw many examples of employers forging strong links with third-level institutions through traineeships, using Skillnets or innovation vouchers, and through the online delivery of programmes.
It makes a lot of sense. For the third-level institution, it gets to offer a course to a student which is highly relevant, which increases that student’s employability after they graduate, and which leads to that course having a high jobs placement rate.
For the employer, it provides an opportunity to feed ideas into course content, provide work placements to future workers, and ultimately hire successful graduates.
Following today’s consultation, my department and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform will continue engagement with stakeholders. We will make decisions in the context of Budget 2018.
Finally, the Oireachtas Education Committee is considering the Cassels report, including the option of introducing an income contingent loan system. This is an area where broad political consensus is needed on the future direction. The Funding Model review will complement the ongoing work by the Oireachtas Committee in relation to the Cassells report.
Technical work is being undertaken on the income contingent student loan scheme by an inter-departmental group. This will inform future policy options, and ensure we can properly respond to any recommendations from the Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills.
If the Education Committee can achieve a cross-party consensus, like the health committee, that will be a powerful signal to all those working to make the Irish education and training service the best in Europe.
Significant additional resources are needed for third level.
However, as Minister Donohoe said yesterday, additional resources for higher and further education are competing with other priorities across Government, which is why those seeking additional resources must show a commitment to reform, and a focus on better outcomes for the end user, the student, the institutes of education and the employer.
It will be a powerful signal to all those working to make the Irish education and training service the best in Europe