Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 58: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation the benefit of transferring responsibility for developing the skills of the labour force from his Department to the Department of Education and Skills; if the oversight of agencies in this sphere by his Department has now effectively discontinued; and the way he will monitor the capacity of the education and training sectors to meet the needs of enterprise in the coming years. [31270/10]

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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One aspect of the changes in responsibilities announced by An Taoiseach last March concerning my Department and the Department of Education and Skills was to streamline under one Department of State support for those who are seeking to re-skill and ready themselves to re-enter the jobs market. The overarching aims of all the changes made in March at Department level, as An Taoiseach told the House, were to:

· group functions whose combination is more appropriate to current priorities than the present arrangements;

· ensure greater coherence and produce more efficient delivery; and

· underline the priority issues for this Government in a way that mobilises a broad response.

With regard to ensuring that our people have the skills and competences to fill jobs, especially those with a high value-added content, An Taoiseach decided that responsibility for skills and training policy was to be re-allocated to the Department of Education and Skills. The clear aim of this element of the change of responsibilities was to better align the work of FÁS, which formerly came within my Department's remit, more closely with the further education and training activities of the VECs, the Institutes of Technology and programmes such as Youthreach. As a consequence of this realignment, superintendence of FÁS and its skills training activities is now the responsibility of the Department of Education and Skills lead by An Tánaiste.

In the new arrangements, my Department continues to work closely with the Department of Education and Skills to support the capacity of the education and training sectors to meet the needs of enterprise. One practical example in this regard is the continued collaboration of both Departments on the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs (EGFSN) which advises the Government on current and future skills needs of the economy and on other labour market issues that impact on Ireland's enterprise and employment growth. The EGFSN continues to have a central role in ensuring that labour market needs for skilled workers are anticipated and met and will continue to report to the Minister for Education and Skills as well as to me as to the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation.