Ireland could become the first country in the world to test the concept of an "education bank" to encourage people to update their skills through the constant retraining required by a high-tech workplace.
The Minister in charge of adult education, Mr Willie O'Dea, has set up a broad-based committee, drawn from Government Departments, education and training bodies, employers and trade unions, the unemployed and adult education bodies, to examine the feasibility of such a bank.
Saying that the traditional division between education and training had all but disappeared, Mr O'Dea said the primary aim of the bank would be to establish a fund to remove the financial insecurity resulting from extended periods of study or retraining.
He said a recent OECD report estimated that in the near future most people would be changing jobs every five years. The bank would make payments to allow people to invest in compensatory education, up-skilling and retraining. By contributing to such an education fund, people would be investing in their future.
However, individual contributions alone would not be enough. Employers and the State would both benefit enormously from the increased skill levels and would be expected to invest in the bank.
"A lot of the burden will fall on industry, which will have to realise that investment in a workforce's skills will have to be planned like capital investment."
Both employers and the State could provide topping-up contributions or block contributions to a national fund. The latter could offset individual contributions against tax, make payments from the FAS training levy or subsidise contributions from social welfare recipients. Further income could come from private foundations.
He said the bank would have to be self-financing, with predetermined contributions from the State. It could be a national fund or administered sectorally by companies, trade unions or community organisations. It could be managed by the National Treasury Management Agency, An Post or even a private bank or insurance company.
It could be used to alleviate specific skills or professional shortages in the workforce. There would also have to be incentives to ensure that women, the disabled, travellers and the long-term unemployed availed of it.
Mr O'Dea said all these questions would be examined by the committee, which is chaired by Prof Noel Whelan, vice-president and dean of the business school at the University of Limerick. It would report to him within six months.
He said that to his knowledge this concept had not been examined anywhere else in the world. However, Ireland intended to be "ahead of the posse" and was fortunate that lifelong learning was coming at a time when it had the technology to make it a reality.