Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for the reply. There is no doubt, based on the assessments made by the Department and stakeholders in industry, and by those who analyse the broader economy, that there are massive labour and skills shortages across huge swathes of the economy. The construction sector will have considerable difficulties meeting the demand that will be placed on it in the years ahead in terms of infrastructural development and meeting the housing needs of the population. This difficulty is coupled with a shortage of skills in transport, the hospitality sector, agriculture, which the Minister mentioned, and other key areas of the economy. Therefore, we have a major problem.

The expert group on future skills needs assesses the economy based on a five-year horizon. Training some of the people takes longer than that so we need to look beyond five, seven, ten or 12 years in assessing what the economy needs. The most damning point is that there are only four civil servants working in the expert group in the Department to assess what the economy needs. This is in the context of a labour shortage of considerable proportions. We have failed to assess the demand and, more important, we have failed to assess and meet the need.

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