Some 25 per cent of Irish adults are functionally illiterate and approximately another 20 per cent can perform only simple reading and writing tasks, a new international survey has found.
Ireland was placed 14th out of 22 states surveyed by the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) in its 1999 report on the subject published yesterday.
The OECD regards someone as functionally illiterate if they cannot read or write properly. For example, it regards an inability to read the instructions on the back of a medicine bottle as one illustration of functional illiteracy.
The National Adult Literacy Agency (NALA) said the findings were "a warning sign to the Government to invest in basic adult education". The NALA director, Ms Inez Bailey, said poor levels of literacy were not just an education issue, but also a work issue, with employers concerned about the literacy standards of many job applicants.
The Republic's performance surpassed eastern bloc states such as Hungary and Slovenia, but it still trailed developed economies such as Britain, Germany and the United States.
While the majority of the population have average levels of literacy, only about 10 per cent have advanced ability in the area, the report said. This compares with 25 per cent in Sweden, which tops the table.
Despite the major economic progress of recent years, the report found the Republic's skills profile below many other industrialised economies.
For example, only 30 per cent of the workforce here are in high-skill "white collar" jobs. This compares with 55 per cent in Sweden, 50 per cent in the Netherlands, 35 per cent in Britain and 32 per cent in Germany. This is despite Ireland producing the second-highest number of computer graduates in the OECD.
The link between illiteracy and unemployment is emphasised strongly in the report. In this area, the Republic is the worst of the states surveyed, with 25 per cent of those who are either functionally illiterate or only able for basic tasks unemployed. However, this statistic only goes up to the end of 1998 and the situation is understood to have improved since then.
Ms Bailey said high unemployment among those with reading and writing difficulties resulted in the economy losing a lot of money. She said funding in the area needed to be greatly improved.
She pointed out that those who wished to improve their numeracy and reading skills were getting only two to three hours tuition a week in their local vocational schools, and this was totally inadequate.
The Department of Education is currently preparing a White Paper on Adult Education which will suggest a range of initiatives to tackle poor literacy levels. It is expected to be published shortly by the Minister of State for Education, Mr Willie O'Dea.