Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Yes, even in a small country like Ireland there are differences in the regions. When I met the south east regional skills forum, it referred to the fact that it had engineering jobs that needed to be filled. What does one do? One brings together the local college, local ETB and local employers to find how to provide more courses in the region for that. I can provide the Deputy with more detail, but there are differences from region to region even in a small country.

The Deputy's point about diversification and the changing world with Brexit, Covid, technology and climate is key. The idea that a person will come out of school and will have a certain set of skills when he or she goes to college and will do the same job with the same set of skills for the rest of his or her life is likely to go out with the dinosaurs. Increasingly, we will need to provide employees who cannot pack their bags and go to university for four years with access to flexible modules of education to upskill. We are driving that principally through the Skillnet Ireland organisation, which my Department funds.

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