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Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 2 Nov 1999

Vol. 509 No. 6

Written Answers. - FÁS Schemes.

John McGuinness

Question:

499 Mr. McGuinness asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands when the last advertisements were placed in national and local papers to fill the positions of skilled and unskilled labour for Dúchas in the south-east region and in particular the Carlow, Kilkenny and Waterford area; if FÁS or any other agency has been contacted to assist in the recruitment of staff; if she will extend her search to other countries where there is a high population of Irish emigrants with the skills required by Dúchas to fill the vacant positions; the number of projects now affected by the shortage of labour; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21606/99]

Vacancies for skilled and unskilled industrial staff in the various operational services of my Department are filled by recourse to applications made directly to my Department, applications made to local FÁS employment services offices and from inquiries made through trade sources. Only in relatively rare circumstances is it feasible to recruit industrial positions through newspaper advertisements.

With the assistance of FÁS, my Department is currently endeavouring to recruit staff for the Kilkenny national monuments district, which covers the south-east region of the country. In this region at present, three projects and two maintenance operations are affected by the shortage of skilled labour. It must be borne in mind that even when existing craftpersons are recruited, their skills must be adapted to meet the particular needs of the national monuments service. Having regard to the current competitive employment market all realistic options are being considered to fill these vacancies. In order to alleviate the medium to long-term requirements of the service, my Department will, in the coming months, be expanding its apprenticeship programme.

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