Guest Speaker:

Minister for Education & Skills, Richard Bruton TD

Richard Bruton TD was appointed Minister of Education and Skills on 06 May 2016. Richard has launched the Action Plan for Education aimed at making the Irish education and training service the best in Europe by 2026. Actions are aimed at improving outcomes for the learners who depend on the service, at breaking cycles of disadvantage, at supporting teachers and institutions to continually improve, at building better links between education and the broader community, and at improving our systems on which we depend to deliver all this.

The Action Plan for Education builds on the successful model of the Action Plan for Jobs, pioneered by Minister Bruton during his time as Minister for Jobs. In early 2012, when the first Action Plan for Jobs was launched, unemployment was at 15.1%; at the time of the most recent figures, an extra 190,000 jobs had been created and unemployment had fallen to 8.3%. Hundreds of measures right across government have been delivered according to tight timetables. These actions have: made it easier to do business; supported promising sectors; and opened up new markets.

Richard was Minister for Enterprise and Employment from 1994 to 1997 when 1,000 jobs a week were being created in Ireland. He served as Minister of State at the Department of Industry and Commerce, from 1986 to 1987.

Richard was first elected to Dáil Éireann for Dublin North Central in 1982, having previously been a member of the Senate and a Local Authority. He has had wide experience in the Fine Gael Front Bench, holding eight different portfolios including Finance, Education and Science, Employment, Economic Planning and Public Sector Reform. He also held the post of Director of Policy.

Richard is a research economist by profession, and worked as an economist before entering politics in the private sector and with the ESRI.

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