asked the Minister for Labour if he will give particulars of each type of skilled worker in which, according to paragraph 1.10 of the recent White Paper on the economy, there is a scarcity in Ireland and if he will state (a) the extent of the shortage, (b) the means whereby people are trained in the State, (c) if the numbers entering the trade are controlled by any artificial means, (d) the number trained in the skill in each of the past ten years, and (e) the action he proposes to take in the matter.
Written Answers. - Skilled Worker Shortage.
173.
The question of skill shortages has been under examination by the Manpower Consultative Committee recently. A report by a sub-committee of the main committee has indicated skill shortages of the following order in the first six months of this year in the industries referred to in paragraph 1.10 of the White Paper:
|
Occupation |
Estimated Shortage |
|
Bricklayers |
400 |
|
Industrial Pipefitters |
150 |
|
Plasterers |
100 |
|
Sewing Machinists |
400 |
The main methods of training for the occupational categories listed above are:
—training by private industrial firms to meet their own staff requirements as they relate to both apprentices and general staff occupations;
—training provided by vocational educational committees by way of block/day release courses to meet the training requirements of apprentices;
—training provided by AnCO—the Industrial Training Authority—for apprentices and general occupations in AnCO training centres and through the use of spare capacity in private industrial firms.
The numbers entering any skilled apprentice trades are determined by the requirements of the industry and generally also by the application of ratios of apprentices to qualified craftsmen. The situation has also been affected in times of recession by a fall-off in recruitment by the private sector.
The time available has not permitted the extraction of information on the numbers trained over the past ten years in the skills specified. The numbers of apprentices who were in training for the craft trades concerned at the end of 1978 were as follows: Bricklayers, 932; Industrial Pipefitters, 908; Plasterers, 662.