Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 27 May 2020
954. Deputy Ged Nash asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if her Department has undertaken an analysis to match skills shortages in sectors affected by Covid-19 with those with appropriate or transferable skills that are currently unemployed; if not, if such an analysis and subsequent action is planned; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7565/20]
View answerIt is imperative that those who have lost their jobs during the pandemic receive practical supports to assist them back to work. My Department is advancing a number of significant recruitment initiatives to meet the critical staffing needs of employers who are delivering essential services to our communities. The Employer Relations Team has responded to the need to fill critical vacancies by adapting their recruitment processes to provide tailored responses to deal with the unprecedented challenges posed by COVID-19. These initiatives have been advanced in collaboration with State funded training agencies and employer representative organisations.
In the healthcare sector, my Department, in collaboration with Skillnet Ireland and Nursing Homes Ireland, matched 50 qualified healthcare assistants to individual nursing homes. A further 187 people availed of online training via the Healthcare Assistant Induction Programme (HAIP). This training programme is a new employment response to give participants a thorough grounding in the basics of healthcare. It is delivered online over three weeks, via interactive virtual classrooms funded by Skillnet Ireland.
Furthermore, my Department has worked with more than 40 employers in the horticulture sector, particularly those engaged as fruit producers, and has made over 2,400 referrals. This is in addition to jobseekers who have contacted these employers directly as a result of the online Help2Harvest campaign.
Further Education and Training (FET) plays a critical role in the labour market activation response and in upskilling and reskilling those who have been displaced as a result of economic downturn. Building and sustaining skills in the labour force will require a key focus as the labour market recovers, with a particular emphasis on skills which will be in demand.
SOLAS are working in partnership with officials in my Department to develop an agile response which brings together and builds on existing FET expertise and resources to provide the recently unemployed cohort with the ‘Skills to Compete’ in the labour market. The aim is to maximise an individual’s potential for re-entry to sustainable work by developing skills, building digital capabilities and providing specific courses targeting growth sectors and occupations, and linking this to advice and supports tailored to the individual. This initiative complements other resources and structures, such as the Regional Skills Fora, to effectively match individuals and prospective employers. Using local labour market intelligence, responses can be adapted to meet regional needs and challenges.
I have also established a Labour Market Advisory Council (LMAC) which comprises an independent group of industry leaders and labour market experts, having been originally established as the Labour Market Council in 2013. The Advisory Council will provide advice to Government to support labour market and business recovery and is currently developing proposals outlining the required public policy responses that will assist the retraining and re-employment of those who have been disrupted by the pandemic.
