Mr. Paul Healy:

I thank the Cathaoirleach and members of the committee for the opportunity to be here today and to outline how Skillnet Ireland supports businesses in meeting their decarbonisation targets and building the talent needed for climate action and sustainability challenges. Skillnet Ireland is a national agency responsible for spearheading workforce development for the enterprise sector, with a particular focus on SMEs. Established in 1999 and funded through the National Training Fund, Skillnet Ireland is supported by both Government and industry, responding to policy priorities and skills challenges in a proactive and agile manner. We work with a network of 60 industry partner organisations, including bodies such as chambers of commerce, the Construction Industry Federation, CIF, the Irish Business Employers Confederation, IBEC, Irish Small and Medium Enterprises, ISME, the Irish Farmers Association, IFA, and a host of regional and sectoral industry clusters. Partnering in this way allows industry to take the lead in identifying the skills challenges it faces and in determining the responses and types of training programmes needed by employers. We also partner with other State agencies and across the tertiary education sector to design and develop programmes that meet new or emerging skill needs. In 2022, Skillnet Ireland provided training supports to 24,700 businesses and 92,400 trainees through 74 Skillnet networks and national upskilling schemes. We invested a total of €70.2 million in industry-developed skills programmes, of which €26.5 million came from the private sector, where employers co-finance the costs of training with us by combining company contributions with Government grants. Skillnet Ireland is a powerful example of the public and private sectors taking collective and collaborative action to address the shared issue of skills.

As we know, the climate action plan seeks to halve emissions by 2030 and become carbon neutral by 2050. In delivering these ambitious targets, businesses across every region and sector face the challenge of integrating climate change considerations and long-term sustainability into their business models and culture. Talent, therefore, is at the forefront of the green transition. The collective task for Government, industry and workers is to develop the array of necessary green skills for a low-carbon future.

Skillnet Ireland has a series of targeted initiatives to support decarbonisation, including the Skillnet Climate Ready Academy, Green Tech Skillnet, Sustainable Enterprise Skillnet, Sustainable Finance Skillnet and Sustainable HRM Skillnet, each with specific specialist objectives. In 2022, over 1,790 businesses and 5,800 employees benefited from climate and sustainability upskilling programmes delivered by Skillnet Ireland, covering areas such as energy management, offshore wind, water stewardship, biodiversity management, sustainable finance and environmental, social, and corporate governance, ESG, reporting, sustainable food production, sustainable supply chain management, efficiency in building systems, organic farming and the circular economy. These range from specialist upskilling to technical programmes, to National Framework of Qualifications, NFQ, accredited programmes and management development programmes, all of which are aimed at helping businesses tackle decarbonisation.

I will give a quick flavour of some of the projects, initiatives, and schemes. In 2021, Skillnet Ireland launched the Climate Ready Academy with the Ministers, Deputies Ryan and Harris. This is a national initiative delivered in partnership with industry to equip both SMEs and larger businesses with the skills they need to respond to climate change and to avail of the business opportunities transitioning to a low-carbon economy presents. In 2022, the Climate Ready Academy partnered with the University of Limerick to launch the first stackable micro-credential programmes for climate action in Ireland, leading to a full level 7 award on the NFQ. The four programmes, which were energy leaders, waste and circular economy leaders, biodiversity leaders and sustainability leaders enable participants to develop tailored sustainability charters and action plans for their organisations. In 2022, more than 500 businesses and 1,900 workers took part in climate and sustainability upskilling programmes delivered through the Climate Ready Academy.

Green Tech Skillnet is promoted by Wind Energy Ireland and was established in 2014 to support the workforce development needs of businesses within the renewable energy and green technology sectors. Green Tech Skillnet is building the talent pipeline needed for the offshore wind energy opportunity and ranges from technical programmes in solar and wind installation, to energy storage, planning and accredited programmes for wind turbine technicians. Since that programme was launched in 2021, Green Tech Skillnet has supported over 70 people to become a fully-certified wind turbine technicians.

Sustainable Enterprise Skillnet is an industry-led training network of over 400 of Ireland's largest production and service sites across the manufacturing, biopharma, agrifood, energy, telecommunications and technology sectors. It delivers a range of programmes focused on energy, water and waste management and lean practices. The internationally recognised certified water steward training programme is run in partnership with Uisce Éireann and has trained over 600 employees in 400 firms over the past three years, thereby leading to significant business improvements in water efficiency and decarbonisation and contributing to the business competitiveness of the participating firms.

Skillnet Ireland and Bord Bia partnered to launch the Origin Green Academy, which is delivered by Sustainable Enterprise Skillnet. The Origin Green Academy will support Irish food, drink, and horticulture businesses to develop emissions reductions skills required to achieve ambitious emissions targets in the sector, accelerate their sustainability progress, and meet the expectations of both global consumers and legislative requirements such as the corporate sustainability reporting directive, CSRD.

Another priority supported by Skillnet Ireland is sustainable finance, which will play a key role in delivering on policy objectives under the climate action plan and the EU’s international commitments on climate and sustainability. In collaboration with Sustainable Finance Ireland and other partners, Skillnet Ireland part-funds the international sustainable finance centre of excellence, which aims to equip the financial services sector with the necessary skills to finance a net zero future. The centre is also responsible for delivering upon the sustainable finance road map, which is a commitment under the Ireland for Finance strategy.

We are witnessing a significant shift from businesses to adopting decarbonisation measures. Climate action has become a central competitive issue for firms, for reducing energy costs, in renewing supply chains, but also as a means of attracting and retaining talent. Yet our research that we can tell the committee about is also showing businesses need much greater knowledge and supports in order to integrate climate action within their business strategy and of course their day-to-day operations. By investing further in workforce development, Ireland can ensure that its workforce is equipped with the leading-edge skills required for a low-carbon future and, in doing so, capitalise on the immense economic opportunities that the green transition is presenting.

I would like to introduce my colleagues. With me is Tracey Donnery, who is the executive director of policy and communications with Skillnet Ireland. Joining us online are Dave Flynn, who is executive director of networks and who can give a more granular programme view, and Ken Stockil, director of the Sustainable Enterprise Skillnet and the Climate Ready Academy. Mr. Stockil deals with companies on the ground on a day-to-day basis in respect of the low carbon and decarbonisation agenda and can give a very good insight into what that looks like.