Organisation information
National Skills Council
From Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science
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The National Skills Council is the high-level platform for partnership between the education and training system, and industry representatives. It’s made up of officials from public and private organisations, who participate voluntarily. The council was established in 2017, under ‘Ireland’s National Skills Strategy 2025’.
The council:
- brings together education and training providers with representatives from business, to effectively respond to skills needs
- advises the minister and department on priority skills needs, the direction of skills and knowledge development in line with emerging global trends, and the opportunities and challenges for learning and work
- oversees research, and approves reports and publications, by the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs, and the Skills and Labour Market Research Unit of SOLAS
- receive and consider costed proposals for the annual research/work programme of the EGFSN in advance of the programme being formally submitted for approval for funding by the Department of Education or the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment as appropriate
- receive, consider and approve prior to publication agreed action plans based on EGFSN research findings
- receive, consider and publish research and reports on skills and labour market data from the Skills and Labour Market Research Unit of SOLAS
- receive reports on the work of the Regional Skills Fora and consider assessments from the regional fora in relation to skills development in their regions
- receive reports from SOLAS, HEA and the Chairs of the Council of Presidents of the Universities and Institutes of Technologies on the delivery of responses to identified skills needs
- receive reports from DES, HEA and SOLAS on overall funding allocations for education and training provision
- provide updates as required from other government departments on related strategies
- receive regular updates from other relevant stakeholders (IDA Ireland, Enterprise Ireland, Science Foundation Ireland) on developing sectoral opportunities and potential target areas for increased foreign direct investment and consider and advise on issues associated with the availability of skills to support such employment opportunities
- prepare an annual prioritisation of identified skills needs to inform decisions on allocation of funding across FET, HE and Skillnets. This prioritisation should include reference to levels and discipline areas and delivery mechanisms, for example: mainstream provision/targeted funds
- an annual statement of the work of the council will be presented to the Minister for Education and published no later than the end of March of the following year
| Name | Title and organisation |
| Mr Bob Savage | Chairman and Vice President, Regional CIO for EMEA and Cork Site Leader Dell Technologies |
| Mr Jim Breslin* | Secretary General, Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science |
| Mr William Beausang | Assistant Secretary, Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science |
| Mr Dalton Tattan | Assistant Secretary General, Department of Education |
| Dr Alan Wall | CEO, Higher Education Authority |
| Dr Padraig Walsh | CEO, Quality and Qualifications Ireland |
| Mr Andrew Brownlee | CEO, SOLAS |
| Mr Martin Shanahan | CEO, IDA |
| Mr Leo Clancy | CEO, Enterprise Ireland |
| Prof Mark Ferguson | Director General, Science Foundation Ireland |
| Mr Paddy Lavelle | General Secretary, Education and Training Boards Ireland |
| Dr Orlaigh Quinn | Secretary General, Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment |
| Mr John McKeon | Secretary General, Department of Social Protection |
| Ms Patricia Coleman | Assistant Secretary General, Department of Public Expenditure and Reform |
| Prof David FitzPatrick | Irish Universities Association. President, TU Dublin |
| Dr Brendan McCormack | Chair of Board of Presidents, Technological Higher Education Association |
| Mr Liam Ryan | Managing Director, SAP Labs Ireland |
| Mr Martin McVicar | Managing Director, Combilift |
| Mr Peter Mulrine | P Mulrine & Sons Sales, Owner, Director |
| Paul Healy | Chief Executive, Skillnet Ireland |
| Patricia Roberts | Proprietor |
Address: Skills Planning and Enterprise Engagement Unit, Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Marlborough St, Dublin 1, D01 RC96
