Ten years ago the OECD carried out an international study on adult literacy and found that Ireland had a particularly serious problem in this area. A quarter of adults, aged between 16 and 64 had a literacy level of 1.
They were functionally illiterate. That meant they might, the OECD said by way of illustration, "be unable to determine the correct amount of medicine to give to a child from information printed on the package".
Since 1997, however, there has been some improvement. Funding for adult literacy measures has greatly increased, but from a very low base, rising from €1 million then to €23 million last year. In 1997, there were an estimated half a million people in this "restricted literacy" category.
By 2016, assuming that the Government meets its most optimistic target, the national illiteracy figure would drop to just over 300,000. But such a small reduction, assuming it can be achieved, would represent unremarkable progress; given the length of time, two decades, and the strong growth performance of the Irish economy in that period.
In 2016, at best, the adult literacy level would be reduced to 10 per cent of the population, at worst 15 per cent. One hundred years after the 1916 Proclamation, which promised "to cherish all the children of the nation equally", that would be a disappointing outcome and a reflection of the Government's modest ambition in this aspect of adult education.
In a policy paper published yesterday, the Conference of Religious of Ireland (Cori) condemned the Government for its lack of ambition in tackling the adult literacy issue. It questioned the future position of those with literacy problems in what is, increasingly, a knowledge-based economy. For those without numeracy and literacy skills, their job prospects, either in Ireland or abroad, are poor indeed. As Cori director Fr Seán Healy pointed out, a high level of illiteracy would also have a negative impact on economic development. In Britain, there is increasing recognition of this reality.
Two weeks ago, Tesco's chief executive, Sir Terry Leahy, warned that low standards of literacy and numeracy among the young have left the British economy more exposed to competition from India and China. Ireland is no different.
This week is National Adult Literacy Awareness Week. And this year's theme is "the benefits of learning". The aim is to impress on those with literacy difficulties of the social and economic benefits to be gained by increasing their educational skills. It should be a literacy awareness week too for the Government. And it should prompt them to take adult literacy more seriously than they have done so far.