Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Question 153: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he will report on the achievements to date of the Expert Group on Future Skills; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33119/07]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Government established the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs (EGFSN) in 1997 to provide advice on Ireland's future skills requirements and make recommendations as to how those needs could be met.

The EGFSN is an independent advisory body appointed by the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment in consultation with the Minister for Education and Science. It reports to both Ministers. The group is broadly representative of social partnership, with members from enterprise, academia, government departments, and employer and worker organisations. The EGFSN operates under the auspices of Forfás which provides research and secretariat support to it.

In 2001, a Skills and Labour Market Research Unit (SLMRU) was established in FÁS to provide additional research capability to the Group on an ongoing basis. The SLMRU operate a National Skills Database on behalf of the EGFSN. This database contains demand and supply side data including employment indicators, vacancy data, economic immigration statistics and education and training supply data. The current mandate of the Group runs from 2007 to 2009.

The work of the EGFSN is undertaken at two levels: economy wide and sector specific. The early work of the Group focused on sector level skills forecasting. Sectors examined to date include ICT, Biotechnology, Food Processing, and Engineering. More recently, the work of the Group has examined horizontal skills issues facing enterprise across all sectors. These include management development, research, in-company training and careers and labour market information and dissemination. A listing of work undertaken to date is in the appendix below.

In 2005, the EGFSN undertook research to underpin the development of the new economic migration regulations that were introduced in January 2007. This work was published in Skills Needs of the Irish Economy: the Role of Migration. The EGFSN continues to review the skills requirements of the economy that can be met through migration on an ongoing basis and informs policy development in that area.

Last year, the EGFSN undertook extensive research to underpin the development of the national skills strategy. The resulting publication — Tomorrow's Skills: Towards a National Skills Strategy — was launched in March of this year and outlines strategic objectives from a skills perspective in the period to 2020.

Current studies being undertaken by the EGFSN include: Skills Needs of the Medical Devices Sector, Skills and Research Needs of the Financial Services Sector, High Level ICT Skills in the ICT Sector and Skills and Labour Requirements of the Construction Sector. All of these studies are being undertaken in close collaboration with the different interest groupings involved.

In 2008, the EGFSN will continue to support the work of both Government Departments in implementing the National Skills Strategy and it will also report on progress in this regard. The EGFSN has also established links with the Skills Expert Group in Northern Ireland and at my request is organising an All-Island Skills Conference for 2008. Research for an all-island statement on skills demand is currently underway.

The mandate governing the EGFSN was reviewed and revised earlier this year. A Group was appointed this year and current membership and the interests that they represent are indicated in the appendix below.