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Skills Development

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 20 July 2016

Wednesday, 20 July 2016

Questions (39)

Bernard Durkan

Question:

39. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the extent to which she and her Department have identified any particular or specific skills requirements and or deficiencies which need to be addressed in order to maximise the filling of job opportunities in the manufacturing or service sectors while maintaining its attraction as an investment centre for indigenous and foreign direct investment; if it is expected that any such shortfalls can be met in order to facilitate and further enhance economic recovery; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22775/16]

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Oral answers (8 contributions)

My question is an effort to identify the extent to which the skill sets throughout the workforce are adequate to meet the requirements of this era.

My Department works closely with the enterprises, development agencies and the Department of Education and Skills in addressing the skill needs. Since being appointed as Minister of State, I have placed a strong emphasis on ensuring that we have the talent and skills available to meet enterprise needs. I am working closely with my colleague, the Minister for Education and Skills. I am pleased that, under the auspices of the apprenticeship council, the first enrolments on the new apprenticeship programmes will commence in autumn of this year. The number of undergraduate ICT places will increase this autumn. I also recently launched the new web portal, Tech/Life Ireland, which is funded by my Department, to attract skilled professionals to this country.

In addition, the expert group on future skills needs, EGFSN, reports to me and to the Minister for Education and Skills regularly. The EGFSN plays a key role in advising the Government on the current and future skills needs of the economy. Recent EGFSN reports have anticipated future job opportunities arising from both expansion and replacement demand for a range of occupational roles. These include ICT, data analytics, manufacturing, medical devices, pharmaceuticals, food and beverages. Future opportunities are also anticipated in international sales and marketing, project management, freight transport, distribution and logistics and the hospitality sector. I met the Irish Road Haulage Association over the last number of days.

Co-operation between employers and the education and training system is crucial in developing effective responses to skills needs and the regional skills fora will be important in that role.

By way of a supplementary question, I further inquire as to the extent to which the Department is in a position to identify the likely requirements of the future, having regard to the requirements of the marketplace at the present time and the movement in that area over the past couple of years. I also ask the Minister of State to give an indication to the House the extent to which he can put in place the necessary upskilling facilities to ensure that both the manufacturing and service sector needs are adequately met as time goes by. I ask whether or not it has been possible to identify possible sensitive areas that might need to be looked at further.

The Minister of State quoted the recent report by the expert group on future skills needs. I want to flag one particular aspect of that report, because I have received correspondence about a shortage of chefs. The Restaurants' Association of Ireland says there is a shortage of up to 5,000 chefs in this country, so the situation is coming to a critical juncture. When frequenting pubs and restaurants, we can see for ourselves that the vast majority of staff, particularly chefs and other kitchen staff, are non-Irish nationals. They have come to this country to fill a void. Has that problem appeared on the Minister of State's radar? The Restaurants' Association of Ireland has called for the re-establishment of CERT, the Council for Education, Recruitment and Training. CERT ran valuable courses and produced chefs and people with associated skills, of which there is currently a huge deficit.

I will deal first with Deputy Niall Collins's question. He is correct. A number of weeks ago I launched an initiative programme for chefs who have gone through a three or four-year apprenticeship in Tallaght. The indications are that over the next four, five or six years the hospitality sector will require 8,000 to 10,000 chefs. There is no doubt that this is an important issue. The hospitality sector provides some of the most important services in the economy. It employs approximately 158,000 people in 16,000 enterprises. I have asked Enterprise Ireland to prepare a report on how small and medium-sized businesses feel about economic growth in the next couple of years, including the exact number of chefs and other staff that will be required. They will report back to me hopefully by September.

If the ability is there to create so many jobs in that sector, which I believe there will be, we will not be founding wanting in that regard.

Can the Minister of State indicate the extent to which the apprenticeship scheme can address, in full or in part, the likely staff shortages in both the manufacturing and service sectors?

Having spoken to associated businesses, I know that at one stage we had 50,000 people in apprenticeship schemes. Basic apprenticeship schemes for carpenters, plasterers and bricklayers completely diminished over five or six years, down to about 4,000 or 5,000. In September, we will be launching 25 new apprenticeship schemes, many of which will be in the sectors the Deputy mentioned. I have written to employers' groups asking them to indicate whether employers are in a position to take on apprentices in those areas, which have the capacity to create a substantial number of jobs. As the economy progresses there will be more building projects, so it would be unacceptable if we could not have basic apprenticeship schemes for electricians, carpenters and bricklayers. In September, we will have 25 apprenticeship schemes which include many of the jobs referred to by the Deputy.

I thank the Minister of State.

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