Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 27 February 2024
10. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if Ireland is likely to experience a shortage of graduates in the future within a particular area to meet the demand of the corresponding workforce; his plans to address same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9019/24]
View answerThis question is similar to the previous one. Is the Minister satisfied that graduates are coming on stream in sufficient numbers to be able to fill the vacancies in the workforce at all levels and to be able to expand and grow their own interest and knowledge as well?
I thank the Deputy for his question, which highlights the importance of trying to align graduate output with our future workforce and skills needs. It is important, when we think of previous questions, that we do not just talk about the workforce and skills needs of the private sector, although that is really important, but we also talk about the workforce and skills needs of our public services. We discussed this with Deputy Burke earlier in the relation to the health service.
Aligning outputs with the skills needs of our country is a central theme of the OECD review of Ireland's national skills strategy, which I was pleased to launch last May. Against the backdrop of rapidly changing skill needs and megatrends such as digitisation, artificial intelligence, decarbonisation and demographic change, the OECD emphasises that it will be essential that Ireland's skills system helps to secure a balance between skills demand and supply; is flexible and responsive in planning for future skill needs; and builds adaptability and resilience in the face of societal and economic change. The OECD review identifies a number of positive opportunities to meet these objectives in areas such as improving information and guidance for individuals - not just school leavers but all citizens - on learning and career paths; strengthening learning and career pathways; and making education and training provision more responsive to changing skills needs. The last point is the most important one. The idea of education being something that is age-bound or that can only be done in one way has to change if we are to meet the skills need of our country now and into the future.
One of the main priorities for my Department for 2024, consistent with our recent statement of strategy, is to deliver on those priority recommendations identified by the OECD relating to achieving these opportunities. The reform of the National Skills Council, the details of which I plan to announce shortly, will put in place a key component of a new governance model recommended by the OECD to build a more joined-up skills ecosystem to drive forward implementation of the OECD review. It will enable the creation of a national partnerships encompassing all sectors of the economy to underpin more effective engagement with stakeholders. The work of the new council will be critical to overseeing how the future evolution of our tertiary education system generates the workforce and skills referenced in the Deputy's question.
Is the Minister satisfied that the general uptake in the areas of academic and technical skills is sufficient to fill the jobs and vacancies that are likely to appear in the future? Given the level of foreign direct investment in this country, what skills are likely to be required for the foreseeable future?
I am not satisfied, and I cannot be, because I have a number of reports that show really acute skills shortages in key areas of the economy. We know that we will need 50,000 more people to work in construction by 2030 and around 17,000 people to work in retrofitting. Both of those numbers are really important for our housing and climate agendas. We also know that those numbers are likely to increase as housing targets increase. I can point to much good progress in terms of increased apprenticeships, new short courses and the expansion of higher education courses in these areas, as well as greater levels of interest and uptake. There are encouraging signs but there is certainly no room for complacency by any manner or means. In a country that has full employment, we now have to look at everything including the issues of underemployment, how we help people to regain employment who have been out of the workforce, and the issue of work permits. This really does show that this #IrelandIsFull nonsense that we read about online is a farce.
Are we doing enough work in respect of the roles that are becoming redundant in real terms? Long ago, when a person went to college and got a degree, it would last them a lifetime. Now, however, in the context of business and what is happening in the world, things are changing very fast. Are we doing enough to examine the roles that are becoming redundant? Do we have adequate training in place for people to move them on to other areas where there is a shortage?
I thank Deputy Burke for what is a really topical question. We are certainly doing a lot in this space, although whether we can ever do enough is a big question. The Deputy is right that this is certainly an area that we need to prioritise. One of the things we are trying to do is to dispel the myth that education is just something people do in primary and secondary school, with a couple of years at university to get a degree and then off they go. Increasingly, education is going to require people - even those who believe they are in secure employment - to dip in and out to keep up with the pace of change that is happening in our world. That is why we have developed micro-qualifications and micro-credentials at further education and training centres and in higher education so that people who are working full-time can top up their skill set to keep ahead in their workplace. If we look at mechanics, for example, we have a lot of people who are studying to be mechanics right now. That is really good, although we could do with more. We also know that last year in Ireland there were more new electric vehicles sold than petrol or diesel vehicles. Therefore, mechanics are having to change their whole skill set. Going back and retrofitting the skills involved in the mechanic apprenticeship course is a huge body of work that we are currently undertaking.
To what extent is the Minister satisfied with the supply of students to third and fourth level from secondary schools in view of the accommodation difficulties that have arisen in some parts of the country? Our population is growing and demand in that area will continue to be high. In that context, is the Minister satisfied that enough is being done to meet the accommodation requirements of the students who will be the graduates of tomorrow?
It is for this reason that we have changed our approach to student accommodation. In Deputy Durkan's constituency, for example, the town of Maynooth is one of the first beneficiaries of the new Government approach to student accommodation. We are investing taxpayer's money, along with university funding, to make accommodation projects viable. The student accommodation project in Maynooth to which I refer will go to construction this year and will make a real and meaningful difference.
I am very satisfied that higher education participation rates are among the best in the world. They are certainly among the best in Europe, but they are not equal across all sectors of society. We should not fool ourselves in that regard. We have made progress in terms of participation rates in DEIS schools but not as much progress as we have made in other schools.
We cannot be complacent. We still see a cliff edge when it comes to progress from second level to third level for far too many people with a disability. That is why we developed whole new courses in Irish universities for people with intellectual disabilities, beginning next September. We are also trying to bring our education into the regions, moving beyond this idea that all roads must lead to a big city to access a university degree. The creation of the technological universities has very much been the driving force behind that policy.
