Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)

There were many recommendations in the excellent report by Mr. O'Driscoll and his team. However, we do not need to see another implementation body but action. The Minister is now beginning to take some action.

According to the Forfás expert group on future skills needs, the list of professions facing a skills shortage is mind-boggling. It includes bricklayers, plasterers, carpenters, floorers, painters and decorators, accountants, actuaries, financial analysts, investment and risk analysts, fund managers, engineers, welders, computer analysts, chemical engineers, doctors, dentists, dieticians, social workers, credit controllers and warehousemen. These professions have been identified as suffering skills shortages by Forfás, an agency that advises the Minister. FÁS has also identified these shortages, another organisation advising the Minister.

As the economy grows, so too will the need for policies that will fill these gaps and create the necessary supply of workers for the future economic development of the State. Many reports have been published on skills needs because we have failed to plan ahead for these shortages. With economic growth in the last 15 years at an average of 7%, it was and is incumbent on the government of the day to plan ahead in infrastructure, competitiveness and skills requirements. We are now playing catch-up and the Minister recently took an initiative on up-skilling.

A situation where only some categories of the population are up-skilled is not needed. If that happens, there will be an unemployable group of people at the bottom due to educational drop-out levels in the lower socio-economic groups. The education system has a role to play. We do not want to see people dropping out of education, particularly at second level, to the extent they are now. This is a worrying trend that requires joined-up thinking in Government policy. Education will play a major role again, as it did in the 1960s, in driving the enterprise agenda.

There are 137,000 migrant workers working in Ireland, 7% of the workforce. Between 2000 to 2005, over 100,000 persons from outside the EEA came to Ireland for employment purposes. This is in addition to the substantial numbers of EEA nationals, with estimates of over 90,000 having applied for PPS numbers since 1 May 2004. The legislative infrastructure to maintain this situation does not exist, although the new Bill on employment permits will go some way in addressing this problem.

The Immigration Council of Ireland has pointed out that a two tier system of migrant workers has developed and is being perpetuated. On the one hand, there are those on work visas, generally in better jobs, with their families by their side, better paid and valued by the State. On the other, there are individuals, with no families, lower paid and not here in their own right, but rather in the gift of their employers. The legislation the Minister recently published goes some way towards addressing this.

There is some confusion about the Minister's proposed green card system, however, particularly as we are used to the US system. That green card system gives the individual the right to search for work, apply for residency and aspire to citizenship. The recently published legislation has not gone that far. I remind the Minister that Forfás stated:

While the EU and EEA counties will provide a substantial proportion of Ireland's low skill requirements, continued non-EEA immigration will be needed to meet some of Ireland's high skill demands over the next number of years.

Ireland is new to inward migration. We have the almost unique opportunity to avoid the pitfalls of the US and the UK where an enormous underclass of immigrants and their children has developed. The plight of the Irish emigrant in the UK is one we do not want to see happening here. In these countries, an entire generation has grown up knowing nothing but social deprivation and poverty. The link is made to the fact they are of foreign parents and their situation is often linked to the colour of their skin or their religion. As a result, an almost ingrained distrust of state institutions, including the police, becomes the norm. As with all communities suffering poverty, crime can become rife. The misconception that immigrant communities are inherently more crime ridden than the native born population begins to find favour. People coming to our shores who gain employment must also be integrated as part of our society to head off the race problems seen in other jurisdictions. This will not happen by accident and the education system will have a role to play in ensuring people are tolerant of migrants.

Figures in the quarterly national household survey paint a rosy picture overall but there are some worrying trends. The number of people classified as unemployed has risen, while those employed in both agriculture and manufacturing continue to decline. The Fine Gael Party has called on the Government to adopt an action plan for both these sectors of the economy. As an economy or a society, we cannot exist within the service sector. We must do what we can to maintain a manufacturing base because it is the key to spin-off development of ancillary services and industries. We must not allow the flight from the land to continue unabated. We must find roles for people in agriculture or on the land to play in the development of rural communities. We cannot leave the people employed in those sectors to the vagaries of globalisation.

I note a recent comment on manufacturing that the continuing decline illustrates the competitiveness challenge facing Irish industry as a result of the increases in non-pay costs such as energy and waste management in particular. The Government has a role to play in making Ireland a more attractive place for Irish people to work and do business by addressing those issues of competitiveness. I differ from the Government's version of events in that I believe it has allowed the competitiveness agenda to slip. We were fourth in the OECD world competitiveness forum rankings in 2000. We are now 26th, which is evidence that we have slipped.

It has been recognised in numerous studies that there is a competition deficit in this country. Across key sectors of the economy, including many directly controlled by the State, there is an absence of a competitive dynamic that would provide consumers of services with a wide choice. The former chairman of the Competition Authority, Mr. Fingleton, whose position is now vacant, outlined the scale of concentration resulting from the legacy of an anti-competitive and anti-consumer policy and culture. In particular he highlighted core areas of the economy where there are high levels of concentration and where consumers do not have adequate competition and choice. He outlined the presence of effective State monopolies in the postal service, energy, transport, health insurance, television and forestry. He also outlined other sectors where leading private sector firms have a market share of 50% or more, leading to concentration. There is one sector in particular where four firms alone control more than 80% of the market.

These are key issues for the provision to the consumer of better services, such as legal services, energy and waste management, at a cheaper cost. We must address them on behalf of the users of those services. Poor competition in the provision of goods and services adds to the daily living costs for consumers and businesses, especially small businesses. The Competition Act 1991 was reviewed in 2002 but could go much further in dealing with the issues.

I do not subscribe to the Government's policy of having a regulator for everything. Even the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform got in on the act yesterday for auctioneers and estate agents. I understand the direction in which he wants to go to protect the consumer but we should not allow empire building by one regulator after another where no cross-cutting issues are discussed or developed between them. Each of the regulators' offices has a separate legal department, a separate accountancy department and other separate sections for a wide variety of consumer issues.

The Commission for Electricity Regulation is suffering enormously from regulatory capture. Most of the people involved in it were civil servants in the former Department of Energy. A cosy relationship has developed in some sectors of competition policy between regulators and the industry they are supposed to be independently assessing so that new competition is brought into the marketplace. That independent assessment is not happening and Government policy on how regulation operates needs to be reviewed urgently.

Approximately half the workforce is not in a pension scheme. This is a challenge. Figures from the Irish Association of Pension Funds show the average contribution to pension schemes is10%. However, to maintain an adequate income in retirement, the figure should be more like 15% to 25%. The Government is discussing this issue at present and I expect it will have a statement to make on the matter in the context of the forthcoming budget. It is another issue for which we must plan ahead.

If we want to plan for an enlarged population we should not repeat the mistakes of the past where there was no policy for migration, infrastructural development, pension contributions or competitiveness issues. We need a co-ordinated approach to plan the migration of people into this country to enlarge its population. Good progress has been made but major challenges lie ahead and we must meet them if we are to ensure we can compete with countries in the Far East and eastern Europe and continue to enjoy strong economic growth for the benefit of the people we represent who work and live here.

See this speech in context