Some of the background research commissioned for the inquiry pointed to four main problems with education and training for industry. The first was the low percentage of workforce qualification levels in Northern Ireland. The qualification mix is not what Northern Ireland needs, and some qualifications are dated. One of the most important conclusions was that we do not have enough people with intermediate types of skills. Clearly, we must do something about that. The statistics for job-related training are also relatively low. Finally, employers' commitment to human resource development and investment is also lower than it is elsewhere.

We know what the problems are. The report includes a number of recommendations. I would also advise drafting a vision for the future along the following lines: we must enhance our human capital; we must have better and more flexible training; and education and employment services must be targeted towards identified growth services and sectors. One of the problems is that too much of our training is supply-driven; not enough of it is demand- driven.

Secondly, we need to tap into our local knowledge and expertise. A major recommendation of the report - and this must be part of our vision for the future - is to link higher education, further education and our centres of research excellence to optimise innovation.

Thirdly, the report points to offering more and better pathways to social integration - opening up access to jobs and training for those who were previously excluded.

Fourthly, we must modernise with a broader economic base, so as to shift from the old to create the new. We must create niches of high-value specialisation. I recognise the problem of simultaneously exposing ourselves to the vulnerabilities and volatility of modern global markets by becoming overdependent on any one particular sector. Unfortunately, as we know, Northern Ireland has suffered greatly from such overdependence in the past.

Finally, we must create high-quality working and training environments to induce our talent to stay here and at the same time to attract researchers and investors to come to Northern Ireland. Much of what we heard was about old infrastructure, about buildings that were falling down - unattractive environments for people to be trained in and not the places that adult learners should be returning to. They were put off so much by what they had previously experienced that they never wanted to return.

The key view of many participants who gave evidence was that we needed to build more partnerships.

What struck me very forcibly was the evidence that we took from the providers in the South. FÁS, the Irish training and employment authority, made the point that it had had to go through a period of rapid change. The colleges there had to face up to forming consortia: further education colleges, or technical colleges as they were formerly known, coming together to specialise. However, too many of them were providing too much of the same, rather than anticipating changes in the labour market and the needs of new investors in a flexible and rapid fashion. They have changed enormously, and we could learn a lot from that.

Currently, colleges in Northern Ireland are competing instead of co-operating. Someone needs to take a strong hand on that, and I ask the Minister to put in place a strategy for further education. The demands are not being met in the way that they should. The strategy should be anticipating changes as well as attracting young people into further education colleges and sending them out well trained, whether with modern apprenticeships or the skills that are in demand.

The evidence from the district councils was interesting. Banbridge District Council made a strong case that while district councils, LEDU and local enterprise agencies worked together, further education, higher education and the T&EA were not currently part of this collaborative effort. There needs to be a response to such statements.

There is concern that a unit should be developed. No doubt the Minister will tell us that there are agencies or units within the Departments that have some kind of workforce strategy and are developing ways to respond to future labour market needs. I sit on the Committee for Health, Social Services and Public Safety, and I am concerned that the Health Minister intends to carry out a workforce strategy, as there are enormous shortages. This report relates to industry, but if we are to have an interdepartmental approach, it might be useful to have a look, right across the Departments, at the workforce needs in Northern Ireland, and to have a strategy in place for that.

Another concern highlighted in the report relates to the careers service. Scotland and Wales have tackled this problem, brought together a number of providers in partnership, and examined how business and education can relate to industry. That is not the case in Northern Ireland. A report on that will be published shortly, and I cannot anticipate its recommendations. However, those giving evidence said that the current level of careers advice at secondary school level left a lot to be desired. That was a major concern.

Secondly, they need to develop a mechanism to feed information about the skills shortages into the education system. An engineering firm made the point that it had huge skills shortages, and yet was not aware that teachers and careers advisors were knowledgeable about these skills shortages. We must modernise our careers service as soon as possible.

It would probably be useful to hear about 'career window'. What happened to 'career window'? It was to be an Internet service that could provide information. Resources were set aside for that, but it seems to have disappeared. Our researchers found that there was a lower use of Internet services in Northern Ireland. That is a problem for us. The promotion of the Internet among young people is important, but we must remember that the socially excluded do not always have access to such services. If we have gone down the road of introducing 'career window', can the Minister say when it is to take effect and what its importance to the careers service will be?

Clearly there are issues surrounding the curriculum - it seems that many of the matters that I am talking about begin with the letter "C" - and it has been one of the major problems in Northern Ireland. While Germany and Sweden have pointed to a mix of academic and vocational qualifications, Northern Ireland has done better in the academic field than in the vocational field. We need to start promoting parity between the two.

As a former academic - I should not say "former", given the current state of the Assembly - I am conscious that this is a very difficult job. There is a problem with the pathway between the vocational and the academic - it should be a lattice rather than a ladder. Currently a great deal of emphasis is put on academic and professional qualifications, particularly by parents. They must be made aware that there are many opportunities. The A-level content of the new curriculum could be changed accordingly. It is interesting to hear that the GNVQ is to be retitled as a "vocational A Level". That may make people look at it differently. Other countries have made a better job of this. We can learn from their experiences, as the report indicates. The Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment said that the number of pupils who currently mix academic and vocational subjects is not known. The database is inadequate in that respect.

We were also very impressed by the promotion of the worlds of employment and education through services such as the Northern Ireland Business Education Partnership (NIBEP). They speak to clusters of businesses. They provide mentors and role models. I was particularly taken by the fact that they are targeting socially deprived communities. It is too often the case that businesses make links only with the grammar school sector. So it was important to hear that work experience, enterprise awareness and commercial understanding are being promoted through teacher placements and school placements. I repeat the statistics mentioned by the Chairperson. Scotland was able to provide 600 teacher placements, whereas we could provide only 45. The statistics speak for themselves. Nevertheless it is good to hear that 1,000 business advisers are now participating in schools in Northern Ireland.

he main theme that comes across is that this is now part of the mainstream. When we reflect on our school days, how many of us in the Assembly can say that we had opportunities to hear from business and industry representatives or to go out on work experience? That has changed. However, much more needs to be done, and we are concerned about the underfunding of organisations such as NIBEP.

We heard about equal opportunities issues and barriers to training. The benefit regulations show the need for interdepartmental partnerships between the Department for Social Development, the Department of Education, the Department for Employment and Learning and the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment. A more co-operative approach must be taken by the Departments. There are concerns about the eligibility rules. How meaningful is the training for those on the New Deal programme? I have heard from constituents who felt that the training was demeaning, did not lead to productive employment and was simply a way to continue to manipulate the employment statistics.

The positive action programmes were important for women. The Women's Training, Enterprise and Childcare organization (Women's TEC) talked about the importance of giving women confidence in a women-only training environment, especially in areas which are traditionally stereotyped as men's jobs, such as construction. They were able to encourage women into these jobs and into the area of information and communication technology. They also provide on-site childcare. The Minister has visited projects where he has seen this at first hand, and we encourage him to continue with that.

There were also, as Sean Neeson has pointed out, examples from the community of adult learning and community-based learning that we should be able to tap in to. The Chairperson was able to visit not-for-profit organisations in the United States and saw that there seems to be much greater collaboration between business and enterprise and community leadership. Given the amount of funding that is going into these areas, and particularly into the social economy, that is obviously something that we should be building on.

One of the major points of the report is the need for reorganisation. Representatives from the further education sector complained that there are too many private training providers and that the sector is unable to compete with them. There is a plethora of national training organisations, sectoral training councils, and other providers; that is creating confusion. A much more strategic approach to training is needed. Perhaps there is an urgent need to look at how these bodies are collaborating - or are they competing against each other? The good practice models of the universities in Northern Ireland and the incubator schemes to enable higher education providers to reach out to business and the community should be encouraged.

A major recommendation is that the research assessment exercise is not helpful, given that sufficient credit is rarely given to researchers who apply their work to a Northern Ireland context. I emphasise the Northern Ireland Economic Council's recommendation that 10% of that research should be given credit where it applies to the Northern Ireland situation. Perhaps that would encourage more academics to produce work that is of relevance and that can be fed back into the economy here rather than to international journals that are not always relevant to Northern Ireland. That would encourage applied research so that researchers would not tend to look at their work solely from the point of view of how it will enhance their careers.

Finally, there is the question of an employer levy. Is the employer levy productive and should we be introducing it? It ring-fences the needs for training. Both France and Australia have this. We took contradictory evidence in Northern Ireland, and it would not be surprising to hear that the trade unions here were in favour of the levy and businesses were not.

It is argued that for such development in any country, materials, manpower, marketing, management and money are needed. The report addresses, in particular, the issues of manpower, skills, education and learning. In the end, the Minister will be asked "Where is the money for it?".

As a member of the Committee for Employment and Learning, I commend this report to the Assembly. I thank all the Committee staff for their hard work - we could not have battled through all of the submissions and the reports without their being well tabulated for us. I welcome the input into this inquiry from industrialists, employment agencies and education providers. Sitting there each day, and as a former primary school principal, I was extremely worried. We have always had pride in our education system and manufacturing expertise.

For many years Northern Ireland led in industrial development and achieved remarkable export results, et cetera, in spite of ongoing terrorism for 30 years. However, this view of our education system will change for everybody when they read this report and see the evidence from the industrialists. The submissions to the Committee catalogued the failure of the present system to educate our young people properly and prepare them to meet the requirements of industry.

A submission from one firm gave examples of employees who were incapable of doing their job because of a lack of literacy and numeracy skills. That can produce an adverse effect on production and product safety. The firm's submission stated that some of its employees could not count pieces of a product into a bag, identify the letters of the alphabet, or identify the days of the week. The firm ended its submission with a plea that all students must achieve basic levels of numeracy and literacy before they leave school. It is not the responsibility of industry, secondary level education or higher and further education to tackle literacy and numeracy.

One of the engineering firms stated that careers guidance must be radically overhauled. Another firm stated that it had received a visit from chemistry teachers, and 99% of them had not considered employment in industry.

The evidence from the Education and Training Inspectorate was particularly interesting. The Committee heard that the difficulties with literacy and numeracy were common across 17 colleges. However, one of the witnesses said he was

That was not what the Committee was getting from other submissions.

As a former primary school principal I know that Members cannot afford to be complacent. The crux of the problem highlighted in the report is not about education failing young people at secondary or further education level; it is about education failing young people at primary school level. Screening for problems at primary school level would be a start.

A remedial programme is a necessity for the 16-plus age group, but the root of the problem is in the primary school sector and it should be tackled there. I do not blame the teachers; the problem is with the bureaucratic pressure imposed on them. I ask for action now, not only for funding of the lifelong learning projects and liaisons with industry, but also for progress in the primary school sector to solve the problems of literacy and numeracy. I support the motion.

I welcome the report. The agreed terms of reference were

Part of the Committee's rationale was to determine the way forward for Northern Ireland to increase its productivity in the global marketplace. Northern Ireland's productivity is significantly lower than that of its competitors. As has already been said, productivity is only 84% of that in the UK and just over 50% of that in the USA.

Education and training increase productivity levels, which in turn increase social inclusion. That, on an individual basis, will lead to higher earnings. The Committee gathered information from as wide a range of people and organisations as possible. The Committee for Employment and Learning is supportive of the infrastructure and the initiatives that the Minister and the Department have put in place since devolution.

The report is a timely contribution to an important debate. The economic environment is constantly evolving. The Programme for Government states that the Northern Ireland Executive is committed to developing a knowledge- based economy. The Foyle constituency, which I represent, has seen a significant growth in the IT sector, although there is still a long way to go in the north-west.

The North West Institute of Further and Higher Education in Derry made a significant contribution to the evidence gathering. The director of the institute, Peter Gallagher, and his deputy, Seamus Murphy, gave much oral evidence to the Committee. In addition, Dorothy McElwee and her associates from the North West Institute gave oral evidence on New Deal. Derry City Council supplied further written evidence. The future of our education, skills and development is in lifelong learning.

The downturn in the world economy after the appalling attacks on 11 September will be felt locally. The recent announcement from Bombardier Shorts is evidence of that. That will be the biggest mass redundancy here in recent times, and the knock-on effect has still to be realised. Maydown Precision Engineering Ltd in Derry is still waiting to hear if its production will be affected. In the run-up to Christmas, workers can only hope that the fallout will not affect them too badly, if at all.

This weekend there was the further announcement that Marketing Database Associates Ltd would not be setting up in Derry in the foreseeable future. The Boston- based firm was to have established a major call centre there. The development was announced about six months ago, and the firm took over a former shirt factory and employed 26 people. Not only will those people now lose their jobs, but the expected 150 new jobs will not be realised.

There will be a knock-on effect for local suppliers. People who supply office equipment and personal computers are very much affected. Some of those firms have outstanding accounts, and those may be sufficient to put some of them out of business. I hope that that is a worst-case scenario and that it will not happen. It is therefore more important than ever that we should be able to respond with speed, quality and flexibility to changes in the demands of industry.

The Committee has made 43 recommendations that are all worthy of consideration. I hope that the Minister will refer to some of his priorities. I know that he is committed to developing a culture of lifelong learning, and excellence in learning and training. People are at the heart of economic growth. I stress that we need structures built around people, not the other way round. Foreign investment adds value to the local economy, and we must encourage it. I commend the report, and I support the motion.

I want to put on record my appreciation of the staff who collated the information during our oral and written evidence taking. It has been worthwhile, and many important issues have emerged. I will try not to go back over the many issues that have already been covered; instead, I will flavour my comments with my own experience and interest. I hope that that will be of some benefit to the discussions.

First, I want to comment on recommendation 1, which highlights the poor levels of basic adult educational skills in Northern Ireland. That is an area that is becoming increasingly important, not only to the people involved - and because of the social exclusion that may result - but to the economy of Northern Ireland. Unemployment levels are much lower than they were in previous decades, and we must try to continue to improve people's educational attainments so that they, in turn, can take up job opportunities when those exist.

In an answer to a written question, the Minister advised me that 44% of the unemployed have no educational qualifications. We must continue to target that and to improve our education levels. Recommendation 4 is for a review of the curriculum for 16- to 19-year-olds, so that it will become increasingly relevant. In particular, we have highlighted the weaknesses in scientific subjects. I want to draw Members' attention to some of the information that was highlighted during the evidence sessions. In particular, there may in this detailed report be lessons for members of the Education Committee that may not have been immediately obvious.

At one evidence session, Ms Carol Phillips from Bombardier Shorts advised the Committee that some students were struggling with a course at Belfast Institute of Further and Higher Education (BIFHE). The college expected a high failure rate, but Bombardier expected and wanted people to succeed. Bombardier was willing to do whatever needed to be done to ensure that the students in whom it was investing would succeed. Bombardier and BIFHE formed a partnership to review the students' curriculum. Time and money was invested in the course and the net result of incorporating new projects into the syllabus was renewed interest from the students because the course was relevant. Following that, students had a 100% pass rate where previously they had been failing. It is not rocket science. It is a matter of making the course relevant, changing the curriculum where necessary and enabling students to retain an interest in the subject. That is a basic concept that should be applied to all areas in which difficulties are being experienced.

Recommendation 10 states that

I support that recommendation, which would develop expertise and enable some people to specialise, as everybody cannot do everything. However, the Committee has added a caveat that

We are saying that basic courses for which there is an undoubted demand from all over Northern Ireland must be well spread throughout the Province. However, there will have to be a degree of specialisation if we are to reach levels to enable us to compete with other regions.

I must plug my own constituency, which remains the only one in Northern Ireland to not have a permanent further education campus. The people of Larne and Carrickfergus are badly served by the current further education structure. The lowest wage levels in Northern Ireland are also to be found in those towns. A low level of attainment at NVQ level 4 is to be found in the same areas. Those issues are all related. Neither the informal education structure nor educational bodies such as Proteus (NI) Ltd and the Educational Guidance Service for Adults have been sufficiently provided for. I strongly support a wide geographical spread so that no area is discriminated against and the educational needs of all are addressed.

Some of the historical difficulties with the informal structure may be related to the relatively low levels of community activity in East Antrim. That is another problem that the Departments must address collectively so that people will be able to get on to the educational ladder to improve their own abilities, which will increase their self-worth and the opportunities open to them.

Recommendation 17 refers to the establishment of

I have become aware of past failings through my work in the Committee and through my interest in the subject.

I was astounded when an assistant director of a local college told me that until a couple of years ago the IDB had never made contact with a further education college. In the USA and Europe, a key factor in an investment decision is the local education provision and how it will marry with a company's needs. The IDB has begun to address that issue, and I hope that Invest Northern Ireland will dramatically increase interaction with local colleges. Introductions should be made so that new employers coming into Northern Ireland can feel confident that they will receive support. There are, undoubtedly, good examples of local colleges that have developed courses with local and international companies. That should be standard practice.

Colleges must work towards creating better contact with local employers. The Committee's recommendation affects institutions other than the Departments. Everyone concerned must try to improve and increase partnerships. Partnership is the key word in any developing region, and groups should work together for the benefit of all.

Recommendation 26 calls for a more comprehensive and streamlined national training organisation and a sectoral training council. The evidence highlighted many employment sectors that are not covered by the current structures. That means that those sectors are not publicising or addressing the issues that concern them. There is also duplication and overlap. Procedures must be restructured and streamlined to bring them into line with the national training organisations. In that way we can easily have an input into changes - for example, changes to NVQs. We can also contribute to the national structure and air the Northern Ireland perspective.

Recommendation 36 states the need for an independent, comprehensive and up-to-date careers education and guidance service. As one of the younger Members of the Assembly, I can recall my own school days. Careers guidance consisted of two limited 15- or 30-minute sessions. The provision of careers guidance rests largely on teachers, who may have a limited perspective on the outside world and the needs of industry or employers.

There is potential for conflict, because it is difficult for a teacher in one school to recommend that a pupil should take up a course in another school. At a time of keen competition for student numbers between schools and colleges, it is convenient to recommend the easy option that pupils should continue their education in the familiar surroundings of their current college or school. The full range of options may not be given an appropriate airing. Careers guidance should be more comprehensive and independent so that students are made aware of every employment opportunity. In that way they can take a more reasoned view on continuing their education or commencing employment.

During the oral sessions, one of Northern Ireland's leading companies, Galen (Pharmaceuticals), told the Committee of its difficulty in recruiting biochemists and chemists, even though job opportunities were available. Professors at the universities said that places were available on chemistry courses, but that they could not get students to take those places.

When university places and relatively well-paid jobs are available, what is wrong with the current structure? Why are those wonderful opportunities not being better highlighted to schools and further education colleges? Something in the system is surely failing. Unless the educational requirements of industry are met, companies will go elsewhere or, as with Galen, will recruit from Europe and further afield to get the specialisation that they require.

It is important that we build on existing opportunities and that young people be shown those opportunities at an early stage. It is not enough to encourage people to take an O level or an A level in a subject. Clear information should be available early on so that students can assess the current job vacancies in Northern Ireland and how much they could be earning. Students should consider that when choosing their A levels and university courses. Currently that information is not easily available.

There was much merit in the information we received on the careers guidance service in Wales, where an independent service has been developed. I am not saying that it should simply be imported en bloc - there are criticisms of it - but the concept of an independent guidance service, where there is no self-interest and where quality information is given to students irrespective of their school or college, is there. That service is of high quality; it is up-to-date and independent. That is not only desirable but essential if the needs of industry are to be met in the future.

I call the Chairperson of the Education Committee. Please keep your remarks fairly concise.

Thank you for that useful tip - would that others had heard it earlier.

I welcome the report on education and training for industry. I congratulate the Chairperson, Deputy Chairperson, Members and officials involved. The report covers a wide range of issues and makes important recommendations.

My remarks will be less detailed than I would have liked, but I want to make some initial comments. There is no doubt that education and training lie at the heart of Northern Ireland's ability to provide a highly competitive, skilled and adaptable workforce, capable of meeting future demands. That is absolutely vital in a strong and vibrant economy. I welcome the Committee's recommendations to improve links between business and education, and those to ensure parity of esteem for academic and vocational qualifications.

During evidence on the review of post-primary education, the Education Committee was told by a number of organisations, including the Confederation of British Industry and the Institute of Directors, of the shortage of employees with the necessary skills and aptitudes for today's workplace.

The evidence we received overwhelmingly suggested the need for parity of esteem between academic and vocational qualifications. Our report will be published shortly, and it will highlight those issues. We will also carefully scrutinise Mr Gerry Burns's recommendations in his report on the review of post-primary education to determine their potential and whether they can be implemented into any new education system.

I must record my dismay at the findings of the Committee for Employment and Learning on the low level of adult literacy and numeracy among large sections of the community. There is undoubtedly a link between poor basic skills, unemployment and exclusion. The current system has failed these people. I hope that initiatives to address their problems can be brought forward speedily, and I will wholeheartedly support them. While it may be true that the main problem lies with people who left school some time ago, there is no room for complacency. We must provide young people with those skills.

The Committee for Education welcomed the new targets for literacy and numeracy included in the new public service agreements, but was slightly disappointed that they were lower than those outlined in the strategy for numeracy and literacy. We pressed the Department of Education on that matter. As a top priority, we will scrutinise and monitor the work of the Department to ensure that appropriate action is being taken to enable those targets to be at least met and, if possible, improved upon, so that young people have the best possible start in life.

We need careers education and guidance to assist young people to make the best choices in their careers. The report highlights concerns about the quality of careers advice and the perception that academic courses are promoted in preference to vocational ones.

I agree with the recommendation by the Committee for Employment and Learning of a system that provides a high-quality service to all its users, reflects the opportunities available in the economy and equally promotes academic and vocational careers. I anticipate appropriate action to achieve that in the near future.

The Minister for Employment and Learning (Dr Farren): I thank Dr Birnie and the Committee for their thoughtful consideration of this vital aspect of my Department's responsibility. Like other Members of the House who are not members of the Committee, I have not had sufficient time to reflect on the report in detail. However, I certainly appreciate and welcome the Committee's intentions to improve the quality of education and training provision for our young people and to enhance the skills of our workforce and of those not at present in employment. The report is a valuable contribution to an essential debate and a fine example of how our institutions are able to interact with the wider community. Given the large number of organisations and institutions which presented evidence to the Committee, it is also an example of the close engagement, attention and interest on our part in the developments which are taking place in the sectors relevant to the work of my Department.

I trust that we can continue - not just through the Committee for Employment and Learning, but through all of the Statutory Committees - to so engage, and to demonstrate that we can be responsive to the needs of our society.

I fully agree with the Committee's view on the importance of the subject. The Executive have emphasised the importance of the subject by including education, skills and competitiveness in the Programme for Government. My Department's aim is to promote a culture of lifelong learning and to equip people for work in a modern economy. Those aims and objectives are reflected in the Programme for Government. They spring from the belief that education and training after compulsory schooling can and do make a powerful contribution to economic position and social inclusion.

Universities and colleges create the vast majority of our higher level and technical skills; universities, as indicated in last year's report from the Northern Ireland Economic Council, provide a more substantial proportion of our R&D than is the case elsewhere in the UK and Ireland. Colleges and training organisations offer our young people and adults a first and a subsequent opportunity to gain a wide range of vocational, technical or occupational qualifications that allow them to progress to further and higher education or into work. Further education, higher education and vocational training feed directly into the economy and, as they are helping our population to acquire job-related skills, self-confidence and self-esteem, they are also promoting greater social inclusion.

Since I came to office I have endeavoured to promote policies that are in the best interests of those who attend our colleges, training facilities and universities, and the employers and public and social institutions who receive their skills and attributes. I am grateful for the support for these policies contained in the report. I fully accept the spirit of the report as a determined effort to develop and strengthen education and training and to enhance its contribution to the regional economy. It is important to bear in mind the general context in which the submissions were made and in which the report was compiled. It was compiled on evidence that was presented before we had any sense of a recession or a downturn in the global economy. Therefore, over the last year and further back, we were thinking in the context of significant growth continuing over the next few years.

I remind Members that more of our people are employed than ever before, and that our economy has been expanding at a significant rate. Trying to meet the needs that were created by the pressures of the expansion of our economy has not always been easy, particularly when it comes to skills supply. Several Members acknowledged that fact in their remarks.

Some of the developments I have been responsible for include the establishment of a skills task force and the initiation of a series of research projects designed to improve our understanding of the demand side of the labour market. The task force recently published its first comprehensive report, which I commend to Members.

That report covers much of the ground in the Committee's report, and, set alongside a major monitoring survey of skill needs, it complements and supports many of the Committee's conclusions.

The support programme for university research is another inititiative. Several Members spoke of the need to invest much more in locally generated research. The support programme will provide over £40 million from a public-private partnership over the next four years to invest in the R&D infrastructure in both of our regional universities.

Last week, I was privileged to launch one of the projects selected as worthy of support by the international panel - the Sonics Arts Centre at Queen's University. This will bring together the knowledge and scholarship in the creative arts and technology sectors in an intensely creative way. It will also provide opportunities for economic and social activity, as well as for teaching and research. I was pleased to learn that the research that is being undertaken is at the frontier of research in that area. The centre could become a leading research centre in world terms. The Centre for Molecular Biosciences at the University of Ulster will build on the strong research record in this area and provide support for the university's technology transfer activities. Those are only two of the projects funded through the support programme. Several other projects are in the process of development, some of which will be launched in the near future.

My recent changes to student support, my access measures in futher and higher education, my introduction of individual learning accounts (ILAs) and learndirect and my support for the Northern Ireland credit accumulation and transfer system (NICATS) are illustrative of my determination to embed the principle of lifelong learning in society and open up opportunities for education and training to a much broader cross- section of the community.

As a result of these initiatives, participation in learning has grown considerably, and Members are aware from recent Assembly Questions that we have had an overwhelming response to ILAs in particular. I do not have the most recent figures to hand, but over 50,000 accounts have been opened, although not all are being drawn down at the moment. However, those figures are well ahead of initial projections, and I trust that we will be able to meet the demands for finance so that people can benefit from educational opportunities, particularly in the lifelong learning context that the provision of ILAs opens up. I welcome the Committee's endorsement of my existing policy direction in these vital areas.

I will move to the essence of the report. At this stage I cannot respond to each of the 43 recommendations. Members will appreciate that there has not been sufficient time to give them the full consideration they deserve. However, I promise to return to those in detail in the near future. I would welcome the opportunity to respond in writing and follow that up in discussion with the Committee. The report is important and deserves no less.

I would like to reflect on some of the main themes suggested by the recommendations and relate my response to the published strategic plan of my Department. I have identified the following five themes: the need for action on poor levels of adult basic skills; a sharper focus, in particular, on information and communication technology skills and on retraining and reskilling the existing workforce or those currently unemployed; the strategic direction of further education and the issues which flow from that; the contribution which the universities can make to the economy and, in particular, to developing the enterprise culture; and the need to develop training provision and related occupational and vocational qualifications.

The issue of basic skills has come before the House on several occasions, not least through Members' persistent questioning of Ministers. The Committee is aware that basic skills have been identified in its strategic plan as one of the key issues that the Department will face over the coming years. I understand the concerns of the Committee and others about this. It is a significant challenge that must be overcome if the skills levels available in the economy are to be raised and if our population is to aspire to social and personal advancement and esteem.

Officials are working on a comprehensive basic skills strategy for adults, which I hope to bring forward for consultation within the next two months. I recognise the impatience that many people feel about this, and I sympathise with them. However, I ask Members to recognise that it is complex. Existing approaches, while of benefit, have not brought sufficient success. In the 1970s, when I first became involved with higher education, an initiative to address that was launched with a great deal of publicity, and we live with its effects today. We must think carefully about initiatives that we launch now to ensure that they will have the desired effect.

Asking people to come forward and admit that there is a problem is not easy, particularly when it is to do with a basic skills deficit. The image of basic skills work must therefore be transformed, and a wide and comprehensive range of programmes and providers must be involved, including training in the workplace. We have had some experience of that through initiatives that employers have participated in with other education providers, notably further education colleges. Those initiatives have met with reasonable and gratifying success and have encouraged us to build on them. Standards, curricula, assessment arrangements and the professional development of tutors must be worked through. Realistic targets must be identified. In due course, I will welcome the opportunity to share our strategy with the Committee and to seek its support.

I have already mentioned the work of the skills task force, which supports our commitment in the Programme for Government. I fully acknowledge that we must update the relevance and quality of vocational education and training if we are to achieve and sustain our goal of an expanding economy based on knowledge-based industries. All our higher and further education and training providers are aware of this aim and are working towards it. We must also remember that there is, and will continue to be, a significant demand for traditional trades, notably in the construction industry. Evidence suggests an absence of candidates for modern apprenticeships in those areas. In emphasising the skills relevant to the knowledge- based economy, we must not forget that many traditional skills will persist. The demand for those skills will remain considerable, and that demand must be met. We must strike a balance between the two.

The current difficulties in the global economy have had an impact on Northern Ireland. Members have stressed our current situation. In the last year, we have attempted to meet the skills shortage in some of the electronics sectors by providing a training programme tailored to meeting them. We now find that we have difficulty placing trainees who completed that programme, which was set up specially to meet the pressures that existed in those electronic industries.

Let us hope that the difficulties are short-lived. It is to be hoped that we will soon be back into a period of expansion, and will again face the challenge of meeting skills needs.

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