National Skills Council

What the National Skills Council does
Terms of reference
Membership
Meeting documents
Contact details

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 meets every three months and its work is ongoing.

What the National Skills Council does

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 (EGFSN), and the Skills and Labour Market Research Unit of SOLAS.

Terms of reference

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
Item was unpublished or removed
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 further education and training, higher education 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

Membership

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 Philip Nolan	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

Meeting documents

National Skills Council meeting documents

Contact details

Email: secretariat_nsc@dfheris.gov.ie

Address: Skills Policy and Enterprise Engagement Unit, Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Marlborough St, Dublin 1, D01 RC96

National Skills Council

What the National Skills Council does

Terms of reference

Membership

Meeting documents

Contact details

Services and information

Departments and publications

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