Shane Ross (Dublin South, Independent)
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3. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation in view of the latest official forecast for employment, if he will provide a breakdown of the number of jobs he and his Department anticipate being created by each significant sector in the economy, including, specifically, from the high-tech sector, the multinational sector, State enterprise, small and medium businesses, the financial services sector, and agriculture and food, in the next three to five years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42822/13]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Both the Department of Finance and the ESRI have this week produced improved employment forecasts for 2013 and 2014. These improved forecasts are supported by the latest employment statistics published by the Central Statistics Office, which show that employment increased by 33,800 in the year to quarter two of 2013 net of a reduction of 5,400 in public sector numbers. This was the third consecutive quarter where an increase in employment was recorded. Increases in employment have been recorded in nine of the 14 economic sectors categorised by the CSO, including agriculture, forestry and fishing, construction, industry, wholesale and retail and accommodation and food services. Most of these sectors are targeted for attention under the Action Plan for Jobs. We have now moved from a situation where the private sector was losing over 7,000 jobs per month before this Government came to office to the current situation where it is creating over 3,000 jobs per month.

This Department does not undertake employment forecasts. However, the Government’s Action Plan for Jobs has set the objective of supporting the creation of 100,000 extra jobs in the economy over the period 2012 to 2016 through a series of annual measures aimed at improving Ireland’s competitiveness and making it easier for enterprises to do business. As part of the action plan, Forfás assessed the job potential of several sectors, including manufacturing, agrifood, ICT, tourism, business process outsourcing, international financial services, the green economy and retail and construction. There is a strong mix of both multinational companies and indigenous SMEs involved in these sectors. Enterprise Ireland has set a target of supporting 10,500 new jobs on a gross basis in 2013, while IDA Ireland aims to generate 13,000 gross new jobs this year. I am currently preparing the 2014 action plan on behalf of the Government and we will continue to build on the success of the actions we have taken over the past two years.

Shane Ross (Dublin South, Independent)
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I thank the Minister for his reply but he did not quite answer my question. I understand his comments on making forecasts but my question, which follows on from Deputy McLellan's, asked the sectors in which the increases in jobs are expected to occur. The Minister referred to the acute problem of the mismatch of jobs and skills. This problem is not new, however. It existed under the previous Government, when the US Chamber of Commerce made some stark comments about the large number of jobs that were available in the multinational sector. No Government has addressed the problem with particular energy and FÁS, which until recently was continuing to overtrain people for construction jobs, still does not appear to have learned the lesson. How, precisely, is the Government addressing the problem of producing people with skills for sectors where employment is anticipated to grow? I am disappointed that the Minister appears to be unable to identify the sectors in which the jobs will be created.

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Deputy Ross asked for forecasts which we do not provide. I indicated in my reply that we investigated the potential of sectors such as manufacturing, where we have identified potential for creating 20,000 jobs, and we are putting polices in place to realise that potential. In the financial sector, we have developed a five year plan to create up to 10,000 jobs in international financial services. Food presents a clear opportunity in this regard. Harvest 2020 aims to develop the agriculture sector and my Department has recently announced plans by Glanbia and Kerry Group to invest significantly in anticipation of greater output. We have also closely examined the potential of ICT, a sector in which a significant proportion of IDA jobs - 13,000 per year - are being created. We have identified opportunities in cloud computing and big data. In the digital games sector, a potential 2,500 jobs have been identified. We are investigating subsectors in which opportunities have been identified with a view to developing policies to deliver on these opportunities. That is the approach we take because it is not as exact a science as forecasting X number of jobs in manufacturing in 2014.

Shane Ross (Dublin South, Independent)
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I agree with the Minister that it is a difficult area and understand why he is reluctant to give exact figures. However, this means the mismatch is almost certain to continue. We do not know how to train people because we do not know where the jobs will be created beyond a vague identification of the sectors. Where does he think jobs will be lost in the coming years? I hope his optimism is justified in regard to bringing the numbers down but there will certainly be job losses.

What store does he put in the forecasts produced by various bodies? The ESRI predicted growth of 2.7%, compared to the Department of Finance's prediction of 1.2%. Previous forecasts have been way off the mark not only in terms of growth, but also predictions of employment numbers. The ESRI, which this week issued a forecast that everybody greeted with enthusiasm, predicted in 2007: "The highest growth is expected among business, financial and legal professionals, whose numbers are predicted to rise by nearly 50%." Are these predictions credible?

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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We should consider what happened in the past 12 months. Agriculture, forestry and fishing generated 16,000 jobs, industry generated 7,000 jobs, wholesale and retail generated 3,000 jobs, accommodation and food services generated 10,000 jobs and professional, scientific and technical sectors generated 5,000 jobs. Growth in these sectors is adding significant numbers of jobs.

The expert group on future skills needs assists my Department and the Department of Education and Skills in building connections between education and industry. I do not pretend the bridge we are building is perfect but, in realistic terms, jobs have declined in recent years and skill shortages have not occurred in many areas. They are only beginning to emerge now. The ICT sector has faced a continuing skills shortage but in manufacturing, while key skills like plastic moulding and tool making are in demand, we are not yet seeing thousands of vacancies or needs. The expert group has identified areas of expertise in manufacturing and they are being communicated to colleges and SOLAS to assist in their planning. The process is ongoing for offering guidance to colleges, students and parents as to where skills opportunities can be found. Clearly wrong turns were taken and it takes time to get people to switch focus. However, a considerable amount of information is informing that process.