Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter on the Adjournment and for speaking directly to my office about it. I understand that he wished to discuss the recently published IIA report and proposals to provide incentives for people to work in the IT sector. As most such proposals would fall under the responsibility of the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, I will for the most part restrict myself to comments on how the Department of Education and Skills is working to increase the ICT skills set of our population.

The ICT sector plays a critical role in the economy. It is composed of more than 8,000 foreign and Irish-owned companies, including 780 foreign-owned companies that employ 65,000 staff with exports valued at nearly €50 billion per annum and 400 Enterprise Ireland-assisted software companies that employ 8,000 staff and generate €1 billion in export sales per annum.

While the downturn has impacted significantly on levels of employment across the economy, significant employment opportunities are emerging in export-led sectors such as ICT. At a time of strong demand globally for graduates with high-level ICT skills, the sector in Ireland is also experiencing difficulties in filling some vacancies. In recent months, departmental officials have been working closely with the secretariat to the expert group on future skills needs, EGFSN, the Higher Education Authority, HEA, and the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation to clarify issues more precisely in respect of skills gaps in the sector and how they might be addressed. Discussions have taken place with more than 25 foreign-owned and indigenous companies to establish information on the scale and nature of positions involved and the reasons for reported difficulties.

The skills needs of the ICT sector are not uniform and are continually evolving. A key issue that has been identified is a shortage in the domestic supply of honours degree level computing and electronic engineering graduates. This stems from the fall-off in demand from students for ICT related programmes following the dotcom collapse, allied with the significant recent growth and expansion of the sector. While it is positive that third level enrolments in these disciplines have increased by some 30% since 2008, there will be a time lag before this increased demand from students feeds through into increased graduate output.

The Minister has met representatives of the ICT sector in recent weeks and has confirmed his commitment to working collaboratively with them on measures to increase the numbers and quality of graduates in the longer term and to address the skills needs of the sector in the interim through an expansion of conversion and reskilling opportunities.

A key initiative that can make a contribution in the short term is Springboard, which is providing 6,000 part-time higher education places for unemployed people as part of the Government's jobs initiative. The tendering documentation for Springboard was developed in close collaboration with the EGFSN and with input from industry representatives to ensure programmes would be provided in areas where future employment opportunities are expected to arise. The selection criteria for Springboard took account of the extent to which providers engaged with employers in the development of their programmes. A number of the programmes also provide work experience opportunities with employers.

More than 2,000 of the Springboard course places are on ICT programmes ranging from certificate to masters degree level. Some 65 separate ICT programmes are being funded in areas such as computer programming, cloud computing, computer game design and digital forensics. A number of the programmes being offered are designed to build on and support the conversion of existing graduate skills in engineering and other disciplines, as the Deputy mentioned. A further 1,400 Springboard places are being provided on programmes designed to address cross-sectoral skills needs, including programmes on Six Sigma, Lean manufacturing, technology commercialisation and entrepreneurship, with the balance in other areas of potential growth, including the bio-pharma, medical devices and food sectors. Applications for places on all of these programmes can be made through the www.bluebrick.ie website.

A key priority for the Government and the Department is to continue to work with the ICT sector to identify measures to increase the domestic supply of graduates with the appropriate levels of skills to support the expansion and growth of the ICT sector.

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