Despite these increasing and welcome figures, we have in Ireland over the past few years been experiencing severe skills shortages in our economy. This is also happening right across Europe. To address this major problem, the European Commission and the European Council have each year since 1998, under the Luxembourg Process, requested member states to prepare an employment action plan setting out their respective Government's proposals on how to improve the overall economic environment in terms of people at work. As part of this process member states' respective annual employment action plans are required to set out policies which, inter alia, facilitate opportunities for women who have raised their families and are keen to come back into the workplace and formulate family-friendly policies which facilitates, in particular, greater female participation in the workforce.