Unions are to urge the Government to introduce paid "learning leave" in talks on a new partnership deal, due to begin in the autumn.
The measure is one of a number of lifelong learning initiatives to be proposed by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions in negotiations on a programme to succeed Sustaining Progress.
Investment in lifelong learning, Ictu said yesterday, would be "crucial" in boosting productivity and maintaining a successful economy in the years ahead. But the State was already lagging behind its EU partners in investment in adult education, it claimed.
In a policy paper published yesterday, Ictu said the introduction of paid learning leave would enable workers to ensure their skill levels kept pace with innovation in their sector.
The cost of such an initiative could be partly met from the social insurance fund in the manner of maternity benefit, it said.
"Studies have shown that Ireland and the UK are at the bottom of the league of our European partners in not having some form of learning leave entitlement," it added.
"This is hardly consistent with Ireland becoming a more knowledge-based society."
Ictu also wants the Government to provide increased resources to the national training fund, which was set up in 2000 and is currently funded through a 0.5 per cent allocation.
The policy document, Lifelong Learning: Everybody Wins, is one of a series prepared by Ictu in advance of the talks, setting out social objectives which unions say must be addressed in tandem with policies designed to maintain economic success.
