Sandra McLellan (Cork East, Sinn Fein)

Since the beginning of the current economic and financial crisis, successive Governments have followed failed or failing policies. Incomes have come under severe pressure as a result of unemployment and under-employment, social welfare cuts and increased levies and charges. The resulting collapse in consumer demand has resulted in job losses and shrinking tax receipts, further compounding the pressure on incomes. Statutory wage floors and wage-setting mechanisms have also come under pressure, and among these is the joint labour committee, JLC, structure. This structure protected hundreds of thousands of low-paid workers, mostly female, on part-time hours who were less well educated, non-unionised and working in the hospitality and retail sectors. It must be protected.

Taking the tourism and hospitality sector as a case in point, in Ireland more than 220,000 people are directly employed on a full and part-time basis in the industry. This amounts to over 8% of the total work force and generates more than €8 billion annually for the economy. Many of these workers were covered by wage agreements and such a position must be resumed.

The importance of the people who create and deliver our tourism product cannot be underestimated, and it must be nurtured and developed. There must be investment to enhance the tourist experience of our wonderful sights, locations, scenery, culture and people. These are the main reasons people come or return to Ireland. The dedicated staff working in this country's pubs, bars, restaurants, hotels, guesthouses, cafés, eateries and tourist sites are the face of Ireland for many hundreds of thousands of tourists from home and abroad. The friendliness and hospitality of the Irish people differentiates Ireland from competitor destinations. Some 45% of holidaymakers identify this as the dominant distinguishing advantage, whereas one in two tourists who mention that the holiday exceeded expectations attributed this to the friendliness and hospitality found here. Front-of-house staff are key in this regard.

Despite the widespread acknowledgement of the importance of education and training for the ongoing development of the tourism sector, there has been relatively little direct involvement or investment by the industry in this area. Many of the key successes and challenges facing the industry here were identified in the 2006 report by the tourism action plan implementation group which was charged with monitoring implementation of the recommendations of the 2003 strategy, New Horizons for Irish Tourism: An Agenda for Action. The final report of the group concluded that much progress had been made in implementing many of the actions outlined in the 2003 strategy. At the same time a number of action areas were outlined in which progress was slow, including, among others, human resources. It stated that investment in human resource development to train and upgrade the skill levels of people working in the industry and address staff retention problems was essential.

Similarly, Fáilte Ireland's human resources development strategy for Irish tourism, entitled Competing through People, outlines clearly the role of quality staff in service delivery. It also identified a number of deficiencies in career and professional development structures. For as long as the tourism industry mainly comprises small and medium enterprises, it will need support for professional and enterprise development as well as skills training.

Support must also shift from traditional hospitality areas like food and room preparation and vocational supports to supplying e-business skills, new leisure activity training and coaching. In an ever-competitive market the role of staff is becoming more important. Fluency in languages, history and business are vital. The industry must appreciate the contribution made by staff in order to be more attractive and increase productivity levels. Staff should be trained in the skills required to match the area in which they work and thus be able to work more efficiently. For example, many day visitor attractions now depend on trainees to run operations, and this type of staffing fluctuates and is uncertain. Support is required to employ trained staff in these positions and increase productivity.

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