Ms Orlaith Gleeson:

The Department and Fáilte Ireland are working with industry and other Departments to address those skills shortages. In particular, Fáilte Ireland has an extensive plan in place to support the tourism industry. It has initiatives like a marketing campaign to drive awareness of the live jobs and a range of supports around the industry's recruitment capacity. It has a transition year programme to introduce transition year students to the tourism industry. It has a programme to support businesses to access people on the live register and to link businesses with local third level students. It is a comprehensive strategy that is about exposing tourism and focusing on it as an attractive sector in which to work. Over the course of the pandemic, people moved from tourism to other industries. As a result, it is about focusing on tourism and the attractive nature of the sector.