Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2024, published 113rd ILC session (2025)

Human Resources Development Convention, 1975 (No. 142) - Ireland (Ratification: 1979)

Articles 1, 2, 4 and 5 of the Convention. Formulation and implementation of education and training policies. Cooperation with the social partners. In its reports received on 1 September 2023, the Government provides detailed information on the formulation and implementation of education and training policies. The Government highlights the adoption of a second Further Education and Training (FET) Strategy 2020–24 and reports that significant progress has already been made across its three core pillars (building skills, fostering inclusion, facilitating pathways) and in its aim to deliver a more integrated FET system. The Government also reports that significant reforms were made under the National Skills Strategy 2016–25, resulting in a skills development architecture which ensures that education and training align with skills needs. Further, one of the pillars of the new Pathways to Work Strategy 2021–25 aims at ensuring seamless access to training for unemployed jobseekers. Also, a new Action Plan for Apprenticeship 2021–25 was adopted which aims at increasing diversity and inclusion within the apprenticeship system. The Government indicates that the apprenticeship registrations increased to 8,286 at the end of 2022 and aims at 10,000 registrations per year by 2025. Regarding policy coordination, the Government highlights that the provision of training programmes and services is overseen by a high-level interdepartmental group, including the Department of Social Protection (DSP), the Department of Further and Higher Education, and SOLAS (the State agency responsible for FET). In parallel, the DSP and the Education and Training Boards (ETBs) have established a protocol to coordinate national, regional, and local efforts to target the unemployed jobseekers and socially excluded groups. In that regard, the Government indicates that the collaboration between the Public Employment Services (PES) and SOLAS facilitates the referrals of unemployed jobseekers to training courses offered by SOLAS and the ETBs.

The Committee notes in these respects that, in its concluding observations of 20 March 2024, the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) expressed concerns about regional disparities in the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights, notably with regard to access to education and training in remote and peripheral areas, including in the north-west region and border and coastal communities (document E/C.12/IRL/CO/4, paragraphs 20–21(a)). The Committee also notes that, in May 2023, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) published a report on the National Skills Strategy 2016–25 which identified remaining challenges in balancing skills supply and demand, promoting lifelong learning, leveraging skills for innovation, and strengthening governance for a more effective and adaptable skills system (OECD Skills Strategy Ireland – Assessment and Recommendations, OECD Skills Studies, 2023).

With regard to cooperation with social partners, the Government refers to the roles of the National Skills Council and the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs (EGFSN). The Government indicates that the EGFSN, tasked with advising the Government on skills needs and ways to address them, includes representatives from the Government, the industry, and from employers' and workers' organizations such as the Irish Business and Employers Confederation (IBEC) and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU). The Committee notes from the EGFSN website that it is also tasked with making recommendations on how existing education and training systems as well as delivery mechanisms may be improved. Regarding the National Skills Council, the Committee notes from information available online that, following the 2023 recommendations from the OECD on the National Skills Strategy 2016–25, a new National Skills Council was launched in 2024 which is composed of eight representatives from different sized enterprises, four representatives nominated by the social partners, and two skills experts, including the Chairman of the EGFSN. The Committee notes that the new National Skills Council is meant to act as a platform to provide the Government with on-demand strategic advice to adapt its skills and workforce development policies quickly, in tune with the fast-shifting skills requirements of the labour market. In light of the above andnoting the challenges identified by the OECD as well as the CESCR, the Committee requests the Government to continue to provide updated and detailed information on the adoption, implementation, and impact of the different vocational education and training policies and programmes, in particular in remote and peripheral areas. The Committee also requests the Government to continue providing detailed and updated information on the way in which effective coordination between the different relevant bodies is assured for the development and implementation of these policies and programmes. The Committee further requests the Government to continue to provide updated and detailed information, with concrete examples, on the involvement of the social partners in both the design and implementation of these policies and programmes.

Articles 1(5) and 3. Equality of access to vocational guidance and training programmes. The Government reports that a progress review of the National Access Plan for Equity of Access to Higher Education (2015–19) was published in 2018 which showed that the National Access Plan (NAP) successfully increased participation in higher education among people with disabilities, surpassing its initial target of 8 per cent by reaching an overall rate of 10 per cent as of 2017. The Government indicates that a new NAP 2022-28 was adopted which set a higher target of 16 per cent of new students with disabilities. The Government also indicates that fostering inclusion is a key pillar of the FET Strategy 2020-24 and that measures to that effect include: (i) the publication of a Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework and a guide for practitioners promoting inclusive practices in the FET sector, (ii) the conclusion of updated Strategic Performance Agreements with the ETBs to include quantitative inclusion targets for priority groups, and (iii) an evaluation of the Specialist Training Provision programme, which provides training for persons with disabilities. The Government further indicates that the 2018 Review of pathways to participation in apprenticeship led to several initiatives aimed at increasing access for underrepresented groups, in particular women, including: (i) a promotional campaign which resulted in an increase in the number of female apprentices, from 60 in 2016 to 1,840 in 2023, and (ii) the launch of a two-year all-female Software Developer Associate programme. The Government adds that, in the framework of the new Action Plan for Apprenticeship 2021–2025, several measures and programmes were adopted to increase diversity and inclusion such as a gender-based bursary, an inclusion bursary, and a Traveller Apprenticeship Incentivisation Programme. Moreover, an Access and Inclusion Sub-Committee was established to integrate the voices of under-represented groups in apprenticeship policy development. The Government also reports that, within the framework of the National Traveller and Roma Inclusion Strategy 2017–20 (NTRIS), several measures are implemented to improve education and training opportunities for the Traveller and Roma communities, such as the Supporting Travellers and Roma (STAR) pilot project, which addresses barriers to Traveller and Roma participation and retention in education, and the funding of Home School Community Liaison coordinators. The Committee notes in this respect that, in its concluding observations of 20 March 2024, the CESCR expressed concerns about the underemployment and unemployment of the most marginalized groups and recommended that the Government expedite the adoption of a Traveller and Roma training plan (document E/C.12/IRL/CO/4, paragraph 27(b)). The Committee notes from information available online that the Government adopted in July 2024 a new National Traveller and Roma Inclusion Strategy 2024–2028 (NTRIS II) as well as a Traveller and Roma Education Strategy (TRES) 2024–2030 aimed at addressing the persistent challenges these communities face, in particular in accessing education and employment. The Committee refers to its 2020 comments on the Discrimination (employment and occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) and requests the Government to continue to provide detailed, up-to-date information on the vocational guidance and training measures targeting specific categories of persons with the aim of increasing their participation in education and employment. The Committee also requests the Government to continue to provide detailed, up-to-date information, including disaggregated statistics by sex and age, on the results of these measures, such as the number of beneficiaries and the impact in promoting access to lasting employment opportunities, in particular for the Traveller and Roma communities.