Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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I move amendment No. 14:

In page 18, between lines 22 and 23, to insert the following: “(f) accessing the National Training Fund for upskilling construction sector workforce;”.

This is one of the amendments that we do not expect the Minister of State will accept but it gives us an opportunity to raise an important issue that is relevant to the Bill. If the Minister of State has not hit his head against a hard object and decided to support our amendment, then he might at least consider discussing the matter with his colleagues and others at a later stage, given that this is a real issue.

When we speak to construction industry professionals, one of the points they make to us is that there need to be more opportunities for upskilling, retraining and diversifying. One of the weaknesses of our construction sector is that there are not enough career progression opportunities, particularly to attract young men and women into the sector with clear career pathways that allow them to build and grow their skill sets and, therefore, their terms and conditions of employment, rates of pay etc. Therefore, the need for greater access to the National Training Fund for upskilling construction sector workers is important.

If the register is at its very core about ensuring best practice and improving standards, then the broad principle of this amendment, which is about accessing the fund in the first instance, but, more importantly, upskilling construction sector workers currently in the profession and those we would like to see enter into it, is quite important. This amendment was really to give me an opportunity to raise that with the Minister of State but also perhaps for him to provide an update, if he can, on any work his Department is doing with other Departments and the construction sector working group chaired by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, which is obviously discussing this issue as well.