A new 'Activation Fund' totalling €20 million has been introduced to support innovative proposals aimed at progressing the unemployed into work.

It is also aimed at improving education attainment: "The Activation Fund will target the low skilled, the under 35s and those formerly employed in the construction, retail and manufacturing sectors," said the Minister of State for Lifelong Learning, Seán Haughey.

He has just launched a progress update on meeting the National Skills Strategy objectives which were announced in 2007.

Minister Haughey said that it shows that significant progress has already been made towards meeting the objectives set out in the National Skills Strategy.

He said the percentage of those in the labour force with Higher Education qualifications has increased from 33% in 2005 to 39% in 2009, compared with the target of 48% by 2020.

-- Advertisement --

In relation to Upper Secondary including Leaving Certificate qualifications, the percentage of the labour force with this educational level between 2005 and 2009 remained at 40%, compared to a target by 2020 of 45%.

There has been some progress at Junior Certificate level and below with the percentage of the labour force at these levels falling from 27% to 21%, with some way to go to meet the 2020 target of 7%.

Launching the update, Minister Haughey said that "while the current context for the continued implementation of the National Skills Strategy is significantly different from when it was published in 2007, in my view the implementation of the Strategy is more important than ever".

He continued: "This is especially so for the many individuals who are experiencing unemployment and who require new skills to get back into the workforce.

"We must consolidate our investment in education and training to ensure long-term sustainability and build a flexible and robust system that promotes social inclusion as well as upskilling and re-skilling.

"'The National Skills Strategy gives us a target to focus on in that regard and the Government is committed to reaching that target by the 2020 deadline," he concluded.

(BMcC/GK)