Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

90. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the most regularly sought after skills in the workplace; how he will meet such requirements in the short to medium term; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2527/16]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

As the economy expands and grows, there is a growing skills demand from employers across many sectors of the economy, in both the public and private sectors. The Expert Group on Future Skills Needs (EGFSN) advises the Government on the current and future skills needs of the economy and has quantified the current and future skills requirements in a number of sectors and occupations. The EGFSN publishes the National Skills Bulletin on an annual basis which highlights the current skills shortages by occupation. A review of the Skills Bulletin for each of the four years 2012-2015 highlights the following key trends:

- There are skills shortages for Professionals and Associate Professionals across sectors in the areas of ICT, Engineering and Science (predominantly in the biopharmaceutical, medical devices and food processing sectors).

- The shortage of ICT talent is potentially significant for a number of sectors such as Software, Data Analytics, Financial Services, Distribution).

- There are also Professionals skills shortages in specific sectors such as Financial Services, Health (medical practitioners and nurses) and Construction (surveyors) - the latter only beginning to exhibit a skills shortage in 2014.

- As the economy has picked up, the Freight Transport, Distribution & Logistics sector has begun to exhibit skills shortages.

- Multilingual skills were identified for Associate Professionals in ICT and Sales & Marketing, and for Administrative staff in Financial Services and Freight Transport, Distribution & Logistics.

In summary, the greatest skills demand is for Professionals, Associate Professionals and people with multilingual skills.

The EGFSN also publishes detailed reports on the future skills needs of particular sectors, with forecasts of the demand for specific occupations. These reports are available on the EGFSN’s website, www.skillsireland.ie.

The Government is responding to the skills demands by ensuring that State supports for skills development are targeted at the areas where demand is highest, for example, through the ICT Skills Action Plan, and Springboard and Momentum courses. Through initiatives such as these, the Government has deepened its engagement with employers to identify, design and deliver relevant courses which meet the skills needs of the enterprise sector.

There are, increasingly, overlaps in the skills required across different sectors and occupations. In addition to sector-specific skills, transversal skills and cross-sectoral skills are increasingly being sought by employers. The type of skills in demand in this respect include creativity, innovation, entrepreneurialism, analytical thinking, team working, communications and business acumen, ICT skills and foreign language skills.

The Government will shortly publish a new National Skills Strategy which will set out our objectives for the next decade to ensure that the skills needs of the economy are met.