Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue.

Access to a high-quality, innovative and adaptable talent pool is critical for the sustainable growth of the Irish economy and keeping Ireland competitive. While skills policy is primarily a matter for the Department of Education and Skills, my Department supports the work of the expert group on future skills needs, EGFSN, which plays a key role in identifying the future skills needs of enterprise. Recently completed work and ongoing work being undertaken by the EGFSN focuses on the food and drink sector, design, high-level ICT, Brexit-related skills needs and digitalisation.

As part of the new national skills architecture, the work of the EGFSN feeds into the National Skills Council, NSC. Together with additional skills and labour market intelligence provided by the regional skills fora and SOLAS, the council, of which the Secretary General of my Department is a member, provides a mechanism for mediating demands on resources in a manner that facilitates the prioritisation of investment in identified skills needs and enhancing the responses by education and training providers to delivery of those needs.

The work of the EGFSN informs my Department's employment permit policy. Employment permits are part of the response to addressing skills needs likely to continue into the medium term. Employment permit policy has focused on facilitating the recruitment of highly skilled personnel from outside the European Economic Area, EEA, where skills needs cannot be met by normal recruitment or training.

The system for determining eligibility for employment permits is flexible and responsive to change, with the list of eligible occupations reviewed on a biannual basis. It is not, however, intended as a long-term substitute for upskilling the State's resident workforce or sourcing skills from within the EEA. In undertaking any adjustment in the orientation of the system, the interests of the 219,300 people on the live register in Ireland and the 17.5 million unemployed in the EU 28 must be remembered.

As we have been approaching full employment, I have requested my Department to conduct a review of economic migration policies underpinning the current permits system to ensure our policies fully support Ireland's emerging labour market needs. This review is scheduled for completion in the coming weeks. As the review was under way, I became acutely aware of the emerging labour shortages being experienced in the agriculture and hospitality sectors, and I asked that these sectors be prioritised. This resulted in a pilot scheme being developed to allow workers for specific occupations in the agriculture sector to be sourced from outside the EEA. The temporary scheme provides for 500 permits for the horticulture sector, 250 for the meat industry and 50 for the dairy sector. Other recent changes to the regulations removed certain chef grades from the ineligible occupation list.

The strategies in place to ensure Ireland's skills needs are met include the overarching National Skills Strategy 2025 and the Action Plan for Education 2016-2019 and its associated annual implementation plans, in addition to strategies focused on apprenticeships and traineeships, ICT skills, STEM and foreign languages.

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