The Bill before us is not complicated. It makes a small, focused change to the way in which the National Training Fund can be spent. We in the Labour Party have long advocated for better use to be made of this fund. For too long we have seen huge surpluses built up with little in the way of ideas, imagination or indeed a mechanism being put forward on how to spend this money. In the years ahead we will all need to adapt our skills and training as the world, and particularly the world of work, goes through rapid changes. Whether it is a looming AI revolution or the transition to an economy that can meet our climate targets, we need to ensure we are doing all we can to invest effectively in education and skills. The NTF has a vital part to play. This is a fund with an accumulated surplus now of more than €2 billion, and it will increase by another €230 million or so in the next year. This is as a result of the incremental increases in the levy from 0.7% to 1% and record levels of employment. In the context of a skills landscape and a further and higher education sector that is crying out for investment, it is simply essential that we make sure we are making full use of the resources and funding available to us. That means making the best use of the NTF. With that in mind, the Government's plans to spend some of the fund's accumulated surplus across the coming years up to 2030 on funding and, in particular, on capital investment in further and higher education was welcome when it was announced last year. Particularly welcome was the focus on funding apprenticeships, which is an emphasis that has long been called for by the Labour Party. Following on from that announcement, today's Bill makes a sensible change that we in the Labour Party can support. It is something we have long called for. In fact, as far back as 2017, we proposed that the NTF should be used to provide a stable funding source for further and higher level education, which is the engine of our economic growth and near full employment. Allowing for the use of the fund for capital investment within the defined purposes of the 2000 Act will enable the better use of the accumulated surplus of over €2 billion. It will unlock that much-needed capital investment for our third level institutions. This is a sensible step to take but should be cautiously used because clearly the State has the resources elsewhere to fund an ambitious capital programme. Deeper questions about our social safety net need to be addressed. This is often called an employer levy and like employer's PRSI, it is a form of deferred wages or social spending for the benefit of workers. Employer's PRSI funds your pension, while the NTF is there to fund your education and skills. That is why we would take this opportunity to ask wider questions on the NTF. It is essential that we use the fund in the most effective way possible. Even after the Government’s plans to spend much of the current accumulated surplus over the next five years, the fund will still have an annual surplus of €230 million this year alone. This is sustainable revenue that can be used to extend the social safety net and improve benefits for workers and employers. We in the Labour Party believe this funding should be allocated imaginatively to fund the third level education that provides the skills and talent that drive our economy. We argued as much in our manifesto ahead of last year’s general election and in our alternative budget earlier this month. One way we would look to spend the surplus is by unlocking it to invest in lifelong learning. We all recognise the immense value to both our society and our economy that accrues when people are empowered to learn new skills throughout their career and life. Properly resourced opportunities for adult learning help businesses get the skills they need while giving those learners the chance of flexibility in their lives and careers and the confidence and social benefits that come along with learning later in life. Whether we are talking about giving people the digital skills they need for a quickly changing modern economy, or the skills we will need to see through the climate transition, it is essential that we use every tool available to us to support upskilling and reskilling for people right across society. In our manifesto prior to the general election last year, the Labour Party called for an innovative use of the NTF towards this goal. We argued that some of the near €2 billion surplus in the fund should be unlocked to allow workers who are mid-career to "stop and switch" by pursuing opportunities for upskilling or new career directions. Funding skills vouchers, free part-time degrees and masters' courses for workers out of the NTF would fulfil the funds purpose in the most fundamental way. This use of the fund could be managed by SOLAS and be demand-driven where a worker has a minimum of ten years of continuous social insurance contributions. The imperative for change here is clear. When in work, currently, upskilling opportunities are most often controlled by the employer. In most cases, it will be the employer who decides what training or educational opportunities their workers can access. Often that will align with the workers' own goals and aspirations but let us be honest, oftentimes it will not. People should be empowered to direct their own learning and by extension their own lives. By using the National Training Fund to support upskilling through skills vouchers, we could give workers the personal freedom they need to choose for themselves and the opportunity to direct their own learning and career towards where they want to go. Workers who have contributed for many years deserve that chance, so we would use NTF funding to make skills vouchers and free part-time third level courses available to them. That is the kind of sensible use of the NTF surplus that we need to see and it builds on the introduction of pay-related jobseeker's benefit. These measures ensure that people can put their skills and talent to the best use possible. The Labour Party has also called for the NTF to be used to fund safeguards for the future. We have proposed that a permanent wage subsidy scheme could be funded from the NTF and the Social Insurance Fund. A wage subsidy scheme would support workers and employers in the future if and when a downturn or recession strikes. When a company encounters difficulties, employees could be protected from lay-offs by State subsidies, ensuring that SMEs which need time to adapt and overcome those difficulties can retain staff and their essential skills. We see this model working well elsewhere in Europe, most notably with the German Kurzarbeit scheme. There not only are workers and employers protected from lay-offs, but the scheme guarantees that each worker has an individual training or upskilling plan. Workers, therefore, get the opportunity to build their skills during what would otherwise have been a period of unemployment for them, while employers can improve their businesses productivity and skills base while they otherwise would have been looking at a difficult period of layoffs. An Irish version of the Kurzarbeit scheme would serve as an automatic stabiliser in future recessions. It would not carry an upfront cost today but by putting it in place now, and making it a permanent feature of our employment and social protection safety net, we would be investing in skills and employment safeguards for the future. Just as the small company administrative rescue process allows an SME to restructure debts, save jobs and avoid liquidation, a short-term wage subsidy scheme would provide a further safety net for unexpected, short-term shocks. By doing so, we could ensure that the National Training Fund is put to the best use when it is needed most down the line. There is broad agreement that the surplus in the fund needs to be put to use. We simply cannot afford to have such a large sum sitting idle at a time when the need to invest in skills has never been more urgent. I note the concerns that have been raised in some quarters on the Government’s intention to use the fund for current and capital spending for the further and higher education sectors. The fund is, of course, paid for by the 1% employer's PRSI levy and employers are within their rights to ask for assurances that they will see the benefits of the fund but our view would be that this levy amounts to forgone wages that should be invested in workers. Looking at the skills landscape in the whole, it is important we take a holistic approach and recognise that investment across the whole sector is required. Investing properly in our colleges and universities does not just benefit students and staff at those institutions; it benefits our entire society and economy. The benefits of investment in education and in learning are shared among us all. For that reason, while we are cognisant of the concerns that have been raised regarding the Government’s plans, the Labour Party will not oppose this Bill on that basis. However, the voices making that case are correct in their calls that we make sure that this fund is spent in the most effective way possible, consistent with its purpose as defined in the 2000 Act. Doing so will require imagination and initiative. We have set out the Labour Party’s proposals for two of the ways in which the fund’s surplus might be utilised, and we hope the Government gives those suggestions the consideration they deserve. In the coming years, we face several major transitions in how we work. It has never been more important to invest properly in skills, education and training. The National Training Fund is already an important pillar of our skills infrastructure in Ireland. By using its surplus in an ambitious, imaginative way, we can ensure that it continues into the future.

Sentiment score: 0.35