Colm Burke (Fine Gael)

I received a letter from a constituent of the Leas-Cathaoirleach's yesterday. He raised the issue of trying to get visas for people who are very highly qualified and that we cannot get people with that qualification to come to work here. He pointed out that there are more than 20,000 jobs vacant here because we do not have the people with the required qualifications. It is time we examined this issue. Are there that many vacancies that cannot be filled because we do not have the people with the qualifications? If so, we need to fast track the procedure for filling those jobs and then adjust the educational system immediately to ensure that Irish people will have those qualifications in the not too distant future. The Minister should give this matter his immediate attention.

Earlier speakers criticised IDA Ireland but the IDA has to provide jobs and it does so in areas where people have the necessary qualifications. We are not dealing with the issue and it is being put on the back burner. There is a trickle down effect from the creation of 20,000 jobs. We need to respond immediately to the market demands. I ask the Leader to bring this matter to the attention of the Minister and I ask for a debate on this issue. I understand there are currently more than 1,600 job vacancies in the financial services centre which cannot be filled. If this is the case, then it is time we started to respond to the market demands. I ask for a debate at an early date.