Maria Byrne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the witnesses and thank them for their presentations.

I will address the Irish Hotels Federation first. My own background is in the hospitality sector, so I am aware of the shortage of chefs, commis chefs, etc. From my experience of the training centre, and I know Mr. Vaughan has experience of it in Limerick, it targeted people from unemployed areas where it has been a great success story. I would love to see more of them, and I recently raised this with the Minister. It could be replicated throughout the country, targeting areas of unemployment. There were people there who had never worked and one person was out of work for five years. They have now been placed in employment. It was a buy-in from the local hospitality sector, where hotels, pubs and restaurants all signed up to take on a number of the employees. It has been a great success story. I know from speaking with people in the hotel industry that they are finding it very hard to get staff because people do not have the necessary skills and training. Some in the industry are bringing people in and trying to train them. I would like to see an example of what is happening in the Limerick Enterprise Development Partnership, LEDP, centre in Limerick being replicated around the country. It is something that even the committee should look at. To see so many people from unemployed backgrounds being put back into employment is phenomenal. A very good video was put together which sells the message of it and what a success story it has been.

On the training centres, I would like to welcome Mr. Des Murphy. Having served in the education and training board, ETB, in Limerick myself for many years, I know what Mr. Murphy brings to the table with regard to experience and such. Is there not enough choice for apprenticeships? I know that money has been granted by the Minister and the Department for skills, apprenticeships and training. Do we need to expand the amount of courses and what is on offer? Is there enough collaboration between industry and the training centres to find out what are the needs of the different industries? The same could be said for the construction industry. I know that courses are tailored to meet the needs of the employer in some places. Is this happening across all sectors? That is a question for all the witnesses representing the different sectors. In some cases, some of the traineeships or apprenticeships can be quite focused on a particular area. Is there much co-operation between employers and trainers on what are their needs? Is it an area that should be looked at further?

I was recently speaking to someone in the construction industry, and that person was saying that many people who have the skills and training seem to abroad. Are employers targeting the diaspora enough to try to bring people back? Should it be looked at more? A question for witnesses from all the sectors is on second level schools. Third level education is not for everybody. There are some people who will never go to third level. Should there be more talks in second level schools about different apprenticeships and traineeships that are available, to encourage people? On the amount of people that study technical graphics, woodworking and so on, I am not sure of the level of co-operation between trainers and teachers. Is there much co-operation between both sides?