Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The world is changing. Ireland is changing. It is really important not only that we move with these changes and trends but also that we get ahead of them, because that is the only way we will gain a competitive advantage. Key to this are education and skills in the green and digital sectors, as well as reskilling and upskilling. Reskilling and upskilling our workforce should not come at a cost to workers. One of the most offputting things for workers who want to reskill or upskill is that they will bear the financial cost, in addition to the bulk of the time cost. For many years, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions has been seeking protected time for workers who wish to reskill or upskill. If we want to secure our economic future and sustainably grow our economy, we need to offer workers protected time. Similarly, the State must also supplement the costs in a real and meaningful way. It is fair to state the costs should be shared between the State and employers, because it is they who will ultimately benefit from reskilling and upskilling.

Springboard is an excellent initiative but has been severely scaled back over recent years. Similarly, Skillnet Ireland does brilliant work bridging the skills gap for workers, but it could do more with additional help from the Government. Delivering on these two fronts will no doubt increase the number of workers upskilling and reskilling and significantly benefit our economy.

May I pivot to focus on the need for necessary skills to help grow and diversify the economy in the green and digital areas? A central plank of the Government's White Paper on enterprise is diluting the concentration risks in the multinational sector by growing our domestic SME sector.

Key to this is helping to grow the State's indigenous SME sector as it will help with economic diversification and protect our economy from external macroeconomic shocks. Growing the SME sector, increasing the proportion of SMEs that export and addressing the long tail of low productivity across the domestic SME sector are core issues that must be addressed. The White Paper on Enterprise indicates a focus on strengthening the Irish-owned exporting sector, particularly from the existing large cohort of non-exporting SMEs. Irish companies must export at an earlier stage in their life cycle than those in other European countries and only 6% of Irish SMEs currently export with many exporting only as far as Great Britain. This is an area that needs bespoke planning and support to ensure workers and employers have the skill sets necessary to help export to new and growing markets.

The White Paper on Enterprise recognises that we have a long tail of low productivity in our indigenous sector. The only way to address this is to facilitate lifelong learning, reskilling and further education through funding and other supports so we can increase digitisation, ensure investment in new and better technologies, bridge the digital divide and surmount management gaps.

We must also invest in research, development and innovation. Innovation is the best way to generate sustainable long-term productivity growth. However, analysis of European and global indicators shows that Ireland is drifting in the wrong direction on innovation score cards on international competitiveness in the area of research and development. Ireland has moved in the right direction on European innovation score cards and is classed as a strong innovator. However, we are not yet innovation leaders like countries such as Belgium, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands and Sweden, and we could be. I discussed this with the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment this morning at a meeting of the Oireachtas Committee on Enterprise, Trade and Employment. The aim is for us to become innovation leaders but we need to put the effort in to be able to do that. The European score card indicates that our performance is at 118.9% of the EU average but our lead over the EU average is becoming smaller. On the global innovation index, we have drifted from 12th to 19th place and on the International Institute for Management Development world competitiveness indicator, we have drifted from seventh to 13th place. It is imperative that Ireland becomes an innovation leader and breaks into the top echelon of innovation world leaders. To achieve this, we must see significant investment in skills, including supports for management capabilities and adoption of high-performance work practices to ensure SMEs across Ireland can increase their productivity, innovation and competitiveness.

When the Minister of State presents people with an opportunity to upskill and reskill in their workplace, they will grab it with both hands. I have seen it. However, it must be fair. They have to have time off to do it. It cannot all be at the expense of workers, particularly those on low incomes who will benefit more proportionately from an investment in their education.

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