Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

There is no question but that questions are being asked within certain sectors in industry on whether there is the potential to scaleup skills in industry. This relates to indigenous industry and the multinationals which have chosen to locate here. The hope is to address the dearth of skills that is occurring. We should be aware that this is not an issue unique to Ireland. It is predicted that by late next year there will be almost 1 million job vacancies in the information and communications technology sector throughout the European Union. Not long after the formation of the Government the Minister, Deputy Quinn, and the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Bruton, came together to establish our national ICT skills strategy. Every time we have looked at empowering people to develop their skills, whether the unemployed, those already in education or those in employment, it has been predominately in that area. A unit has been established in SOLAS to determine exactly what skills shortages are occurring now and what will occur in the medium term and long term.

We are trying at all times to address the areas which have been notified to us as those where shortages are occurring. The predominant challenge is in the area of information and communications technology. We are now considering the development of a digital education strategy in our Department. In fact, before Christmas we launched the public consultation phase. We hope to begin allowing children the opportunity to do two things: first, to have greater enhanced use of technology in their learning in all subject matter; second, to begin to develop their own technological skills. Let us consider the wonderful work taking place in the CoderDojo movement throughout Ireland. There are certainly some questions to be asked about whether this can be mainstreamed into the public school system. I believe elements of it can be.

Let us consider the MOMENTUM programme from last year. Some 6,500 training places were provided to people who were unemployed. There was major collaboration between industry and the entities, both public and private, delivering the MOMENTUM programme. The needs of industry were considered in the design and development of the curricula and industry offered job placement opportunities to people who were studying on the MOMENTUM programme.

A report released by Accenture Ireland last year on the skills challenge highlighted a specific point in this regard. I believe it is a salient point and one industry should reflect on. It certainly ties in with what the Minister, Deputy Quinn, said earlier about getting IBEC before the committee to consider the apprenticeship model. The point was those in industry, as well as being consumers of talent, must play a more proactive role in creating talent. That is something industry should reflect on.

I referred earlier to the ICT strategy. We are ahead of target in identifying and producing the type of ICT graduates we need for the future. The numbers will have doubled by 2015. The date originally set for the doubling of numbers was 2018 but we will have reached the target by the end of 2015. The number of people who are now taking up computer science and ICT subjects in general at third level has increased by 50% in the past three years.

With the increase of 25 points there has been a significant increase in students, boys and girls, taking honours mathematics. There is a very real and effective response from primary to third level but the challenge remains and will remain for the foreseeable future. We are doing our level best to respond to it.