Mr. Ian Brannigan:

I will start by going backwards. As the acting CEO, I acknowledge and thank him for the positive comments he made, notwithstanding his broader comments about resources and so on, which were equally interesting.

We did the regional skills tool for LookWest.iebecause, from the outset, we wanted it to be more than a website that people would visit. We wanted it to do things to get people employed and into work. The most visited page on LookWest.ieevery month, one which we constantly promote on social media, is our jobs page. It was the most visited page through the downturn and still is, which is great. We work with all the recruiters in the west and nationally to show people the jobs available in the west. If one visits the page, one will see jobs in counties Galway, Clare, Roscommon and so on. We are pleased it has become the go-to place for jobs in the west. We are not a recruitment agency; we simply facilitate the public in finding jobs. We have moved on as the site evolved. IDA Ireland and others told us they wanted to make a compelling case for businesses to locate and stay in the west. We are now advertising hard-to-fill jobs, which means top management and positions with specialist skills. There is a perception that there may not be enough human capital with the core skills needed. The Deputy addressed that issue when he spoke about manufacturing businesses. We know these skills are available because the attainment rates in the west are relatively strong, as they are nationally in any case.

We have completed the feasibility part of the talent tool, which was paid for and done by the WDC with IDA Ireland, the institutes of technology involved in the project and the regional skills forum. We are moving to the phase of designing and implementing the tool, which will require a little money and time. Thousands of people will indicate they have a degree in a certain area or a skill in another area and that will form the basis of the talent tool. We will then have to take account of the general data protection regulation, GDPR, and the various new protocols before sharing this information with appropriate parties, with their permission, to help businesses locate in the region.