Mr. Bryan Fields:

Yes. We have a business planning exercise with the ETBs which is very comprehensive. My unit provides relevant data on education and training outputs for particular regions and the employment forecast to guide the provision. We have also issued a guide document to the education and training boards regarding areas that might be addressed by them. This is done under five broad areas where further education providers could consider enhancing provision: selling and marketing, supply chain management, green economy and ICT. These are areas that the expert group will have identified in its existing reports, in report on logistics that is about to be finalised and on the study on the hospitality sector that is about to commence. They would all feed into the regional profiles.

We also look at areas where further education providers should strongly monitor provision to avoid over- or under-supply of skills, for example, in child care and health care.

Providers should also consider the appropriateness and distribution of current provision in areas and ensure that labour market need is demonstrated. I have in mind the broad field of arts and crafts and I am referring to core skills. Providers should also prioritise their provision, which links with committee members' references to the workplace element of education and training. The on-the-job aspect is critical, particularly for young people.
Commentators have made reference to the German apprenticeship system, but it is worth mentioning that the German system serves two main purposes - direct transition from school into the labour market for young and old alike and securing the skills that companies need. However, what we tend not to hear is that, under the German model, one must go through a particular training programme and become licensed to take up one of the 350 occupations. This debate may need to be held in Ireland in respect of new apprenticeships and occupations. Of the 2.1 million businesses in Germany, approximately 450,000 are involved in apprenticeships. Three quarters of businesses are not involved per se. The 1.3 million apprentices are governed by a national compact under which employers make places available across the occupations. There is a central clearing house. We may need to examine whether the Irish economy can support this number of new occupations, as we do not know. We have been in discussions with employers and the range of apprenticeships will expand, as it must. We are pinning a lot on that expansion because it is key for younger people and for reskilling workers who have been made redundant.