Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the impact of continued emigration on the labour market and available skills. [3235/13]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Net-outward migration flows have contributed to the reduction in the labour force over the course of the recession. Between April 2008 and April 2012 the CSO estimate that there was net-outward migration of 41,000 for the 15+ age group. As of April 2012, net-outward migration for the working age population was 34,000, made up of an outflow of 87,000 and an inflow of 53,000. Not surprisingly, these flows were largely accounted for by the under-35 category (68,000 and 30,000 for emigration and immigration respectively). Net outward migration (emigration less immigration) for Irish nationals in the year to April 2012 was 26,000. There are currently no statistics available on the skills profile of recent Irish emigrants, although anecdotally a large proportion are working in the construction related activities in Australia, Canada, UK, Norway and, more recently, Germany.

The impact of migration on the labour market and available skills depends on a range of factors including, for example, the age at which people migrate, whether they are of working age and their occupational skillset. The Expert Group on Future Skills Needs, which is funded by the Department of Education and Skills, plays a key role in advising on future enterprise skills needs and emerging gaps. The work of the expert group informs the selection of new targeted programmes designed to provide interventions to tackle the skills shortages in particular sectors of the economy, e.g. Springboard, Momentum and the ICT skills conversion initiative, which was introduced as part of the ICT Action Plan. In 2013, there will be continued targeted investment in over 430,000 part-time andfull-time places across the further and higher education and training sectors, all of which are open to unemployed people including young people and the long-term unemployed. This investment includes the provision of the Skillnets Training Networks Programme, which is enterprise-led by nature, where the development of training is led by representatives of industry to ensure that training provision meets the identified needs of the network stakeholders and companies.

This Government is setting about transforming the economy, firstly by making fiscal consolidation more job friendly, including through tax changes, asset sales and the creation of a stimulus package. We have introduced the annual Action Plan for Jobs process to support employment creation by the enterprise sector, based on innovation, entrepreneurship and exporting. We have also developed the Pathways to Work initiative to transform our engagement with those who are unemployed, including young unemployed people. The aim of the Action Plan for Jobs is to support the creation of 100,000 net new jobs by 2016, while the objective of Pathways to Work is to provide those who are unemployed with the appropriate training and skills to avail of the job opportunities which will arise as the economy recovers.

Even with continued job losses in more traditional sectors such as Construction, and Financial, Insurance and Administrative activities, we have seen an increase in employment in sectors targeted by the Action Plan for Jobs, for example, Tourism Agri-food, ICT and Digital Gaming. These developments demonstrate the transformation which is taking place in the economy which had become too dependent on the Construction sector and domestic demand to support economic growth. By continuing the process of transforming our economy step by step through the Action Plan for Jobs, we aim to provide opportunities for those who wish to continue to live and work in Ireland.