If there is one thing I would change, it would be for the Government and employers to pledge that every citizen without a Leaving Certificate qualification, or good literacy and numeracy skills, would be offered a training programme and be supported to develop their skills.

Eighteen per cent of Irish people between the ages of 16 and 65 scored at or below level 1 in literacy skills, the lowest on a five-level scale, according to OECD Skills Outlook 2013: First Results from the Survey of Adult Skills, published last week by the OECD's Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies.

This is a 4 per cent improvement from the last survey of adult literacy, in the mid 1990s. It places Ireland 17th out of 24 countries surveyed to date.

For the first time we have levels for numeracy. The survey showed that 25 per cent were at or below level 1 here. This places Ireland even farther down the international rankings at 19th place.

The survey confirms findings from other reports that showed that people with the lowest skill levels also have low educational attainment, earn less and are more likely to be unemployed and have poorer health.

Solas, the soon-to-be established further-education and training authority, will develop an adult literacy and numeracy strategy. This should prioritise everyone who doesn’t have a Leaving Certificate qualification or good literacy and numeracy skills.

The providers of our education and training cannot assume that literacy and numeracy skills are fully “banked” at school and are up to date when we return to learning. They need to change how they deliver their programmes and give adult learners chances to develop these skills alongside their subject and vocational areas.

It is also vital that employers act on the findings of the survey and invest in upskilling workers. It is important that literacy and numeracy, once thought of only in the context of schooling, are now understood as an integral part of
labour-force development and is built
in to all staff-development programmes.

This will provide a cost-effective opportunity for employers to support their employees wherever they are on the skills continuum and to be confident of the return on their investment.

Finally, it is important that the public understand the importance of developing skills throughout life and to help them make informed decisions about participation in learning.

It is clear that people who regularly develop and maintain their skills will be more employable, better paid and have better health. These are three real and motivational benefits. Health-promotion campaigns encourage us to measure our waists. Similarly, we need ways for people to check the health of their literacy and numeracy skills and take appropriate action to get in better skills shape.

The adult-skills survey challenges how we think about skills. It provides strong evidence that mass participation in mainstream education alone does not produce strong literacy and numeracy skills for life.

Highly skilled people were three times more likely to participate in further learning. The results show that, at any one time, people’s skills exist along a continuum from weak to strong. They also show that although skills are influenced by educational attainment, they are also influenced by factors such as skills used in work and day-to-day living. Skills are developed and maintained throughout life and are not “banked” once, during formal education.

The Government, education and training providers, employers and individuals all have a part to play to make mass adult education a reality in Ireland, especially for those who have benefited least from educational opportunity.

It is fair and progressive, and it is what the high-performing countries in this survey are doing well.

Inez Bailey is director of the National Adult Literacy Agency, nala.ie