Description
Country
Description of the initiative
Skillnet Ireland is a business support agency of the Government of Ireland. Its mandate is to advance the competitiveness, productivity and innovation of Irish businesses through enterprise-led workforce development.
Focus area
It currently supports over 18,000 businesses nationwide and provides a wide range of valuable learning experiences to over 70,000 trainees. Its mission is to facilitate increased participation in enterprise training and workforce learning in Ireland. Through 70 Skillnet Business Networks, Skillnet Ireland allocates funding to groups of businesses in the same industry sector (or region) and with similar training needs, so they can deliver subsidised training for their teams. Skillnet Ireland also plays a key role in supporting and enabling Skillnet funded groups to reach their full potential.
Link
Reference/weblink
Implementation level
At what level is the initiative implemented?
National
Legal base
Legal base (E.g. Law, regulation, implementing provision, other)
Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science.
Starting period
TIMESPAN: In what year did the initiative commence?
Established in 1999
Perspective
PERSPECTIVE: is the initiative based on evidence derived from skill forecasts or foresight activities?
n/a
Policy area
To which POLICY AREAS(s) does the initiative apply?
Funding
How it is funded?
Funded by national government
Skillnet Ireland is funded from the National Training Fund through the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science.
Other
Part funded by enterprises
Skill mismatch
Skill mismatch target
What type(s) of skills MISMATCH does the initiative aim to addresses?
Underqualification (individuals' qualifications/credentials are below their job's needs)
Skill underutilisation (individuals' skills are not well used in their jobs)
Skill shortages (employers cannot fill their vacancies due to a lack of skills in the labour market)
Skill gaps (worker's skills are below the level of proficiency required by their employers and jobs)
Skills obsolescence (some or all of an individual's skills are no longer relevant to the current employer or in the labour market generally)
Skills matching focus
How does the initiative address skills mismatches?
The aim is to work with businesses (or groups of businesses in the same sector) to identify their current and future skill needs and support them to deliver training appropirate to their needs. There are a range of information sources that can be used to identify skill needs including statistics published by SOLAS and the report of the Expert Group on Future Skill Needs (which draws on various sources of skills anticipation).
Skills delivered
What types of skill does the initiative deliver?
Basic literacy and numeracy skills
Basic digital skills
More advanced digital skills
General employability skills (team working, communication, etc.)
Career management skills
Methods
Methods
What methods of undertaking skills assessments and / or skills anticipation does the policy instrument utilise?
Employer surveys
Skillnet encourages enterprises to lead the process for training, this helps ensure that programmes delivered through Skillnet Ireland and our nationwide Business Networks are highly relevant to industry needs.
Use of skills intelligence
How is labour market information / skills intelligence used within the initiative?
Companies enter industry skills networks through the scheme to ensure that their organisation's workforce is as skilled as possible to meet industry needs
Stakeholders
Main responsible body
Main body or organisation with overall responsibility for the initiative.
National ministry
Skillnet Ireland is governed by a Board representing key stakeholders from employer and employee representative bodies and the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science.Skillnet Ireland was established in 1999 and is funded from the National Training Fund through the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science
Other involved organisations
Which other organisations have a role in the initiative?
National agency
Funding and skills forecasting
Social partner: employer organisation
Funding and skills insight
Beneficiaries
Who are the intended beneficiaries?
Adults in employment with upskilling potential
Companies enter industry skills networks through the scheme to ensure that their organisation's workforce is as skilled as possible to meet industry needs
Adults in employment with reskilling potential
Some companies may require employees to be reskilled
Employed adults at risk of job displacement
Technological change may put some jobs at risk requiring new skills development
Sustainability
Success factors
SUCCESS FACTORS in the implementation
Enterprise led nature of the programme ensures skills demand is accurately met.
Monitoring and evaluation
MONITORING and EVALUATION: Is progress measured regularly? What are the indicators used to measure progress of the policy instrument? Have any evaluations been conducted?
Yearly annual reports, evaluation reports, as well as in house reasearch and publications are available on the Skillnet website. The yearly evaluation reports are detailed pieces of work conucted by independent consultants.
Updates
UPDATES: whether there have been any major updates of the initiative since it has been implemented?
No
Effectiveness
EVIDENCE ON EFFECTIVENESS: How effective is the policy instrument?
During 2018, Skillnet Ireland delivered a total of 441,846 training days to 56,182 learners, exceeding the overall annual targets set by the Department of Education and Skills. Skillnet Ireland also surpassed the training days targets for both in-employment and jobseeker training, by 26% and 46% respectively, during 2018. Skillnet Ireland worked with a total of 16,462 enterprises during 2018, representing a growth of 9.7% on the
number of enterprises in 2017, and a 28% increase compared to the organisation’s base in 2015. Businesses invloved in the network have overwhelmingly positive reviews of the scheme in particular under the measure of future-proofing their organisation.
number of enterprises in 2017, and a 28% increase compared to the organisation’s base in 2015. Businesses invloved in the network have overwhelmingly positive reviews of the scheme in particular under the measure of future-proofing their organisation.
Sustainability
SUSTAINABILITY: How sustainable is the policy instrument? Do you expect the instrument to continue over the next few years and why?
There has been an upward movement in overall unit costs of Skillnet Ireland’s training programme on a per trainee basis. Indecon’s research found that 16% of Skillnet Ireland participating firms indicated that if Skillnet Ireland did not exist, they would have not arranged training at all; 12.8% would have organised training but at a later date; whilst 40.5% indicated that they would have arranged alternative training but to a lesser degree. The 2018 evaluation found continued positive feedback from both enterprises and learners on a range of aspects, including the impact on business productivity, turnover and long-term performance, as well as career and personal development benefits for Skillnet Ireland-supported learners.
Other instruments in Ireland
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