Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Acting Chair and Senator O'Loughlin. It is always great to spend time with them and in the Seanad more generally. I was going to list out some of the Enterprise Ireland and IDA numbers for Kildare but the Senator has already jumped the gun on that so I will not repeat them. However, it is worth noting how sizeable and important they are first and foremost for the local economy but also for Ireland Inc. as a whole. The Senator rightly mentioned our small and medium-sized enterprises and our new enterprises. I want to mention the work of the local enterprise office in Kildare. I hope to visit there soon when industrial action allows.

In 2002, the local enterprise office in Kildare supported 256 businesses providing 1,297 jobs and a net growth of 148 new jobs. This was done through the mentorship of almost 500 business people and financial supports to the tune of €900,000. These small enterprises are the new ones that have been created in the last year or so. They are the ones that are able to access the grants and the ones with fewer than 15 employees that can make the most of the opportunity being provided to address the very clear challenges that counties like Kildare face.

On the whole, it is right to say that businesses in Kildare are doing really well. Thanks to these businesses, the county has seen a decrease in those on the live register of 52% since 2016. This is really huge progress and it should be celebrated. I fully acknowledge the Senator's concern and that of those business people who she met recently, along with the Minister for Finance, Deputy McGrath.

I will try to provide some insight into what is being done, what can be done and what hopefully might be done additionally after the budget next week. The first area is directly under my remit not only in the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment but as the line of Minister of State with responsibility for employment affairs. I refer to the skills shortage and the lack of available staff. This issue is impacting every single sector of the economy and every business of every size, but in particular the smaller businesses that need to be more agile when it comes to rostering, hours and shift work. The proposed solution to this is to take a two-pronged approach. This is a whole-of-government approach that starts in my Department but feeds into the work of other Departments such as the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, the Department of Education, the Department of Health, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications. It feeds into everything basically.

The approach tries to ensure upskilling and continuous learning opportunities for our workers to ensure they are equipped to thrive in what is very clearly a changing work environment.The advent of artificial intelligence, technological changes and changes to the workplace all involve retraining and upskilling, and every Department is involved in ensuring our workers have access to courses and skills required throughout their careers.

Apprenticeships will play a key role. We do not have enough tradespeople in Ireland. Apprenticeships can be taken in insurance and retail and in many more trades than the traditional craft trades that people associate them with. This will help to ensure we have the necessary skills for businesses in the future.

To help businesses in the here and now, we have our work permit system. Last year, my Department issued 40,000 work permits to workers from outside the EEA, which includes the EU countries, Iceland and Liechtenstein, and from Switzerland. Some 4,500 people came from the United Kingdom and about 30,000 people came from the EU to work to fill the skills gaps. We know that many businesses rely on the work permit system and inward migration, so we are currently undertaking a review of the occupations eligible for a permit to ensure the system is truly working for businesses. This is the short-term measure. Last year, 40,000 people came from the EEA. This year, we expect the number to be about 38,000. In 2021, it was 19,000. Therefore, we can see a systematic jump as we come out of the pandemic and crisis. That is the key area we look to address.

With regard to labour shortages, the Deputy mentioned energy bills, interest rates, insurance rates and much else besides. I will use my time for supplementary questions to address these because the Senator will have further questions on them and I have already eaten up the time.