Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 4 Jul 1996

Vol. 468 No. 2

Written Answers. - Tourism Training.

Frances Fitzgerald

Question:

160 Ms F. Fitzgerald asked the Minister for Tourism and Trade his views on the steps, if any, that should be taken to ensure that there is training in place in order that tourism infrastructure can be developed within this country; and the initiatives, if any, the major agencies under the aegis of his Department have taken to ensure that appropriate skills are available to develop the tourism industry in the country. [14797/96]

Minister for Tourism and Trade (Mr. E. Kenny)

CERT, which operates under the aegis of my Department, is the agency with primary responsibility for the provision of training for the tourism industry. CERT works closely in cooperation with the industry, and with the Department of Education and relevant agencies under its aegis, in pursuit of higher education and training standards for the tourism industry.

It currently provides an extensive range of training for school leavers, people already working in the industry, and the unemployed. As part of the Operational Programme for Tourism (1994-1999) CERT, with financial assistance from the EU, plans to improve the quality of service in the Irish tourism product by the provision of high quality training programmes across all sectors of the tourism industry over the six year duration of the Programme.

Through continued research and close links with the industry representative associations, individual tourism businesses and employee representative organisations, CERT continually monitors and reviews the potential job opportunities and skill requirements of the industry and gears its recruitment and training programmes to meet these needs and opportunities.

By way of the training of trainers programme and the industry training support scheme, CERT also provides training and financial assistance to enable industry staff to develop and carry out its own in-house training programmes.