Mary Lyons
Director of Enterprise, Employees and Skills at SOLAS, The Further Education and Training Authority
Noreen Fitzpatrick
Employee Development Manager, Enterprise, Employees and Skills at SOLAS, The Further Education and Training Authority
Ciara Ni Fhloinn
Flexible Learning Manager, Enterprise, Employees and Skills at SOLAS, The Further Education and Training Authority
SOLAS, the State agency for further education and training in Ireland, offers a wide range of AI courses for both the public and business employees.
As AI, automation and ongoing digitalisation disrupt the working world, the Irish workforce must be equipped with the skills to adapt, stay competitive and confidently engage with innovative technologies.
Skills to Advance
According to Mary Lyons, Director of Enterprise, Employees and Skills at SOLAS, “Recent reports highlight that more than 900,000 people in Ireland urgently need to upskill in AI to keep pace with workplace adjustments.”
Skills to Advance is an upskilling and reskilling initiative, created and funded by SOLAS, assisting employers to develop skills within their teams, increasing their competitiveness through highly subsidised training. “Through Skills to Advance, we’ve provided over 110,000 skills development opportunities since 2019. The initiative is designed around the real needs of employees and enterprises, offering flexible delivery (online, blended or in person) and targeting emerging skills in areas like AI and sustainability,” explains Lyons.
All Skills to Advance courses are delivered locally by the Education and Training Boards (ETBs) around Ireland and are specifically designed to align with pre-identified national skills needs. “Our upcoming FET strategy supports the adoption of new technologies, focusing on nationally important areas like AI, digitalisation and the environment. Further education plays a key role in providing flexible learning, broad access, future-focused skills and research informed by real-world data.”
Further Education and Training (FET) micro-qualifications, delivered as part of the Skills to Advance initiative, provide bite-sized, accredited programmes that deliver targeted training in rapidly transforming skill areas, designed with the realities of full-time employment in mind.
“Micro-qualifications have been developed collaboratively with industry partners, allowing employees to receive short, targeted bursts of learning relevant to their sector, delivered flexibly across 50 hours,” explains Noreen Fitzpatrick, Employee Development Manager. “AI skills are becoming a priority across all sectors, and our short courses help people to build confidence to use AI ethically and effectively, dispel fears and understand how to leverage its benefits in the workplace.”
Adapted to all levels of learning, micro-qualifications are offered to accommodate access, welcoming both those looking to develop foundational AI competency and more advanced employees of businesses looking to develop strategic expertise. “Our Level 4 micro-qualification ‘Introduction to AI’ is designed for all learners and builds fundamental AI literacy, while the Level 5 ‘Enhancing productivity with AI’ goes a step further, empowering learners to integrate AI tools into the workplace,” explains Fitzpatrick.
Two Level 6 micro-qualifications are also awaiting validation, covering both the legal and ethical use of AI and codesigned with industry partners. “There’s already a huge appetite from employers for these higher-level programmes,” says Fitzpatrick. “Our cost-offset model means the financial burden on employers is negligible, reducing barriers for small companies and ensuring time and course relevance remain the priority.”
eCollege
eCollege is the national online learning service for further education and training, funded by SOLAS. Some flexible learning opportunities on offer lead to industry-aligned certification and are essential for thriving in the digital era.
“We provide a wide range of certified and non-certified courses across IT, business, sustainability and digital skills, making it an ideal platform for anyone looking to upskill,” explains Ciara Ni Fhloinn, Flexible Learning Manager. “AI is increasingly becoming a core part of digital competency, and it now threads through much of our curriculum. We’re continually updating our programmes to reflect the new realities shaped by AI, and we are seeing a huge amount of interest from people across all sectors.”
“All eCollege courses are free and fully online, which makes them particularly valuable for people in time-poor or resource-limited environments,” adds Ni Fhloinn.
Skills to Advance: https://www.solas.ie/programmes/skills-to-advance/
eCollege: www.ecollege.ie
Micro-qualifications: https://www.solas.ie/microqualifications/
