Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The period from early 2020 was a difficult one for many businesses. Some sectors were more severely affected by public health restrictions than others and for a more prolonged period. Throughout this time, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and its enterprise agencies engaged with businesses and put in place a range of financial assistance to help protect as many jobs and save as many businesses as possible.

The latest CSO figures for the final quarter of last year show that employment has recovered strongly. This coincided with the easing of public health restrictions and Ireland's vaccination programmes, highlighting the importance of the Government's efforts to assist workers and businesses, especially through those wage supports which helped businesses maintain a link to their staff.

I fully understand that many businesses are now struggling with additional costs, particularly the cost of energy and other inputs, linked to the pandemic and Russia's invasion of Ukraine. I convened a meeting of the enterprise forum to hear first-hand how the war in Ukraine is affecting businesses in Ireland and we are considering what further measures we can take to help companies.

We are very much aware of labour shortages in many sectors. We must respond through a combination of training and upskilling, education systems, further education and training, and the employment permits regime, which the Minister of State, Deputy English, spoke about earlier. However, employment permits are only part of the answer.

Some of these shortfalls in labour are due to pre-existing structural shifts, which have been accelerated by the impact of the pandemic. The digital and green transitions are altering the economy and leading to permanent changes in our labour market and business models. While not all jobs will return as we recover from the pandemic, embracing these transitions will open up substantial new employment opportunities, as well as potential skills mismatches, as these opportunities initially emerge.

The Government's economic recovery plan commits to supporting the transition of Ireland's economy and workforce to the new digital and green economies. This goal will be realised through ongoing support for people in securing and remaining in sustainable and quality employment, in areas of identified skills needs for business. This will be achieved, in particular, through the combination of 50,000 upskilling and reskilling opportunities and increased labour market activation interventions.

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