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The National Competitiveness Council (NCC) was established in 1997 as a social partnership body, reporting to An Taoiseach [Head of Government of Ireland] on key competitiveness issues facing the Irish economy and offering recommendations on policy actions required to enhance Ireland's competitive position. The National Skills Strategy (NSS) [indexed at TD/IRD 88.152] sets out a vision of Ireland in 2020 in which a well-educated and highly skilled population contributes to a competitive, innovation-driven, knowledge-based, participative and inclusive economy. This NCC paper focuses on human capital development that arises from formal training. The emphasis is on the role of the education system in contributing to national competitiveness. The paper examines and makes recommendations on the following issues: the current performance of Ireland's education system; the changing skills needs of the economy; maximising students' achievements through tackling disadvantage as early as possible in the educational lifecycle; improving the delivery of education in the context of new fiscal constraints; enhancing the system of third level education, achieving value for money in its operation and equipping it with sustainable sources for finance; and enhancing systems of further education and lifelong learning to provide targeted retraining opportunities, along with expanding access and participation.