Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 128: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he is satisfied that the workforce is adequately qualified to meet the requirements of industry in the future; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4431/08]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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In an increasingly knowledge-based and global environment, the skills required by a modern economy are progressively becoming more sophisticated. Ensuring that the skills supply and demand are matched requires an ongoing commitment to monitoring current and future skills needs and addressing any gaps through investments in upskilling. To that end the Government has made provision to ensure that we have the best possible information on future skills needs and the policies and training interventions in place to respond to them. Central to this endeavour is the work of the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs. It has been monitoring developments and proposing responses since 1997. That work has involved ongoing research into labour demand and supply in a number of economic sectors. The subsequent implementation of positive recommendations made by the Expert Group has significantly contributed to the economic growth and job creation that we have seen in the interim.

Last year I launched, along with my colleague Minister Hanafin, the National Skills Strategy report. It is based on comprehensive research undertaken at my request by the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs. It depicts an ambitious vision for the skills profile of Ireland in 2020 and sets out the advances necessary to realise it. The achievement of that vision should enable Ireland to develop a competitive advantage in the area of skills and ensure that we meet the evolving skills needs across the range of economic sectors. The principle recommendation is on the need to upskill by 2020 an additional 500,000 people by at least one level on the National Framework of Qualifications. This is an ambitious target and will require concerted and coordinated efforts between business owners/managers, the Government, the social partners and individual workers.

We will shortly establish an Inter-Departmental Committee that will be chaired by the Minister of State for Lifelong Learning, Minister Sean Haughey, T.D. and that will include the Secretaries General of my Department and the Department of Education & Science. This Committee will approve an implementation plan for the National Skills Strategy and oversee progress towards the realisation of the important objectives to be progressively achieved in the period ahead. In summary, the National Skills Strategy has provided a road map in relation to Ireland's future skill requirements and we are currently putting in place the structures and supports to achieve its vision. In support of that national effort, and by reference to commitments contained in Towards 2016 and in the National Development Plan, the Government will invest approximately €7.7 billion in the continued development of Ireland's human capital over the period 2007-2013. The Government remains fully committed to providing enhanced education and training opportunities to ensure that, to the greatest extent possible, all citizens have the necessary qualifications and skills to allow them both to lead successful and productive personal and vocational lives, on the one hand, and find enriching work in a national labour market that is characterised by quality jobs, high levels of productivity and competitive advantage vis-À-vis our trading partners.