Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will go through what we are doing here in this area. A new tourism and hospitality careers oversight group has been established to continue the work of the hospitality skills oversight group, which published its final report on 19 September 2018. The group, which is chaired by Fáilte Ireland, was established to co-ordinate the relevant bodies to agree and implement a work programme to address current and future labour supply and skill requirements in the tourism and hospitality sector. It is recognised that the best approach to support sustainable employment in the tourism and hospitality sector requires a co-ordinated and collaborative approach by industry, education, training providers and other relevant stakeholders. Members of the tourism and hospitality careers oversight group have developed a two-year work plan for 2019-2020 that focuses on the delivery of five targeted objectives. Initially chaired by Fáilte Ireland, the key objectives of the group are to promote tourism careers and to attract and retain new and existing talent. Fáilte Ireland has completed both desk and qualitative research to understand attitudes and perceptions of the sector and careers in tourism and hospitality. These insights may inform the promotional campaigns to drive a dynamic shift in perceptions as to what a career in the sector can offer.

On the issue of work permits, which was also raised, my Department is represented on the interdepartmental group on economic migration policy by the tourism industry and product development division, which is chaired by the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation. This group is made up of stakeholders from different Departments to oversee and monitor changes to work permits. Through our participation on this group, the Department has assisted the industry in obtaining permits for certain grades of chefs, subject to an overall quota of 610 in March 2018. Changes in April 2019 allow employers to replace permit holder employees who leave their employment prior to the expiry of a permit. These changes also allow recognition of the total years' experience gained by an applicant in any grade of chef rather than limiting that to their experience in one specific chef grade. The Department and Fáilte Ireland are supporting the industry with submissions to the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation for further changes to work permits, particularly for chefs.

As to the chef apprenticeship programme, the Department of Education Skills has lead responsibility for skills development policy generally across all sectors, including hospitality and tourism. It oversees the bulk of the required education and training provided nationally through the higher, further education, and training bodies, namely, the institutes of technology, the education and training boards, and SOLAS.

The commis chef apprenticeship programme secured Quality and Qualifications Ireland, QQI, approval in July 2017. An initial roll-out of the programme commenced in the autumn of 2017 in Galway, Limerick and Clare. Since then it has subsequently expanded to other counties. I can assure Members that there is constant collaboration between our Department and the other relevant Departments in trying to tackle this. It is one of the key challenges we face. With the growth in 2017 in particular and in 2018, one of the key messages that industry has kept sending back to us is that it is having major difficulty in attracting the skilled labour that we need to sustain the growth. That is something we are very conscious of and working on with our partners.

Addressing Senator Mark Daly directly, I agree with him that the Ireland Reaching Out initiative, about which I will speak to my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Cannon, and The Gathering were very positive initiatives. They brought the best out in communities in many different ways. Economically they were important, but they also gave members of those communities a sense of pride and rejuvenation in how people felt about their areas that traditionally might not been seen as tourism hotspots. People started to become more resourceful. If there was any good thing to come out of the recession, it was that people became a bit more resourceful about their own communities and about what was on their own doorsteps. The Gathering epitomised that and brought those brilliant things we have on offer in so many communities to the attention of our diaspora around the world.

Something that I am constantly engaging with Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Ireland on is the concept of revisiting The Gathering and looking at a follow-up to it. The general feedback from the agencies is that the most appropriate time to do that would be when there is a particular dip in tourism. It would be a very strong intervention and injection to have rather than at a time when we are growing. Looking at 2018, these were possibly unsustainable rates of growth. This is something, however, that is very much on the agenda and I would like to see happening again. As I said, I will speak to the Minister of State, Deputy Cannon, and it deserves further follow-up.

I thank Senator Hopkins. I was in her constituency a number of months ago. There is massive potential in her part of Ireland to grow the industry more. That is why we are developing the Hidden Heartlands experience and are pushing that. It got a massive shot in the arm from the investment of Center Parcs, but that is just one attraction in what is a really special part of Ireland that up to now was very much undiscovered and probably not appreciated as much as it should be. It is an area that I am very keen to put more money into. On Strokestown, I look forward to being there for the official opening of the Famine Museum. That is something that will be a major attraction in the area and I will call to Tulsk as well, following the Senator's request to do so. It is a place in which there is also great potential.

I was in Tayto Park this morning visiting another investment. I did not get to meet Mr. Tayto, one of my heroes. I got to see the importance of its theme park, which is emphasising Ireland's Ancient East and the Viking tradition, which is very much part of the theme in a section of the park, and which is great to see. It is also linking in very closely with the Púca Festival. This is the first year of that festival, which a Senator referenced, and which is taking place primarily in Louth and Meath. I see a future for it, especially in Rathcroghan, which the same Senator also referenced. We are very much open to expanding that festival after this year.

There are many areas around the country like this. In Kenmare, as Senator Daly would know, the Hallowe'en Festival has been a massive success in recent years, with great credit due to the people behind it . I would like to see all of those festivals, and there are a number of them throughout the country, getting massive support.It would remiss of me not to say that if there are any concerns regarding human resources or violations of workers' rights, they must be aired but we must be balanced in our comments. I worked in hospitality for seven seasons in the hotel sector. I also worked in bars and restaurants. I ran my own pub for a number of years. My family is steeped in the hospitality sector.