On 7 October 2025 the Government’s budget for 2026 was announced. Here, the National Adult Literacy Agency (NALA) outlines some key points about adult literacy in this budget.

Funding

Adult literacy is funded by the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (DFHERIS). The total DFHERIS budget, not including budget for capital projects, will go up by €241 million in 2026 (Budget 2026 Expenditure Report, page 38).

A lot of the 2026 budget for DFHERIS will be spent on apprenticeships, construction skills and green skills. Some money will also be spent on “targeted upskilling and reskilling initiatives” among various groups including “harder to reach cohorts” (Budget 2026 Expenditure Report, page 88). This might include adults with literacy needs but unfortunately adult literacy isn’t specifically mentioned.

Reforms

The 2026 budget also sets out reforms that will be made to help government departments run better. DFHERIS have committed to:

• restructure the governance of the Adult Literacy for Life strategy; and
• “incorporate outputs” from the Expert Group on Literacy Provision (this group has already started looking into how adult literacy education can be improved in Ireland).

NALA welcomes these reforms to adult literacy.

The current governance structures for the Adult Literacy for Life strategy have not met since July 2024. We look forward to working with DFHERIS and others to make sure the new governance arrangements are effective and meet regularly.

We also hope to see more funding for adult literacy provision in next year’s budget, after the Expert Group has published its recommendations.

What’s missing

We are disappointed that adult literacy is not mentioned as one of the areas that will benefit from the €241 million increase in the DFHERIS budget. In his speech to the Dáil about the 2026 budget, the Minister for DFHERIS, James Lawless said:

“Those who need help the most will get the most help. That is a fundamental principle of social justice, one in which I deeply believe.”

We believe that those who need help the most under DFHERIS are those adults who have

• literacy needs (1 in 5 adults);
• numeracy needs (1 in 4 adults); or
• digital literacy needs (more than 1 in 4 adults).

Without more help, these people will continue to struggle in daily life and have worse social outcomes.

Contact for media queries

Michelle Lynch

Communications, Outreach and Advocacy Manager

mlynch@nala.ie

0879689016