Noel Rock (Dublin North West, Fine Gael)
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133. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the actions he is taking to combat the shortage of labour in the construction industry as outlined in a report (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17248/18]

John Halligan (Waterford, Independent)
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The report referred to by the Deputy states that a major issue for the economy in general and in particular the construction sector in the coming years will be the shortage of labour.  Securing skills supply from the education and training to the construction sector is a major focus of my Department as part of broader Government actions to increase housing supply and roll out the National Development Plan and the National Planning Framework.

There are a range of new and expanding programmes in place to meet skills demands in the construction sector.  These include programmes identified following engagement between education and training providers and construction employers through the 9 Regional Skills Fora. 

Construction related apprentice registrations increased from 1,713 in 2015 to 2,314 in 2016 which represents an increase of 35%.  This trend continued in 2017 with a further increase of 28% on the 2016 figure bringing the total number of construction related registrations to 2,963. 

Apprenticeship is a demand driven educational and training programme, which aims to develop the skills of an apprentice in order to meet the needs of industry and the labour market.  Consequently, the number of construction related apprentices being registered is determined by employers within the construction sector. My Department and SOLAS are committed to supporting the registration of apprentices in the construction sector. Registrations on craft apprenticeships are forecast to increase further up to 2020.

As the Deputy is aware, we are currently expanding the range of apprenticeships on offer to meet the identified skill needs of industry. Arising from our first call for apprenticeship proposals in 2015 an apprenticeship in Engineering Services Management, with the Construction Industry Federation (CIF) as industry lead, is currently being developed into a national apprenticeship programme.  In addition, we recently announced 26 new programmes, arising from last year’s second call for proposals, to be further developed into national apprenticeships, including a scaffolding apprenticeship, again with the CIF as industry lead and a senior quantity surveyor apprenticeship with the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland as industry lead. These new programmes, once developed, will add to and complement the range of apprenticeships currently on offer in developing the skill needs identified by the sector.

In addition to apprenticeship provision, almost 7,000 beneficiaries participated in SOLAS-funded construction related further education and training (FET) programmes provided by Education and Training Boards (ETBs) under the ‘Built Environment’ skills cluster during 2017.  Examples of these programmes include programmes in concreting, ground work, scaffolding and sustainable construction.  

Separately, following a series of discussions with the CIF, SOLAS identified the following semi-skilled occupations as priority areas for the ETBs;

- Form worker

- Steel-fixer

- Curtain waller (installing glass and plaque tiles on the outside of building replacing brickwork)

Programmes have been put in place to produce approximately 100 form workers, 100 steel-fixers and 50 curtain wallers per year.  SOLAS will continue to engage with the ETBs to expand provision to meet needs in these areas.

There were almost 1,700 higher education awards (levels 6-10 on the National Framework of Qualifications) in construction related courses in 2016.  Between 2012 and 2016 the number of graduates declined by approximately 1,180 (or 42%).  The most significant declines were at levels 7 and 8, which combined saw 1,280 fewer graduates over the period 2012-2016. However, there are signs of a recovery between 2015 and 2016, with the number of level 6 awards increasing slightly (70 additional awards year-on-year), a halt in the decline of level 7 awards, and a slowing in the rate of decline at level 8 (70 fewer awards year-on-year, compared to previous years’ declines of at least 200 or more). The decline in level 8 awards is likely to be reversed in the short to medium term:  the number of CAO acceptances has been increasing since 2014 (reaching in excess of 1,000 in 2016, approximately double the level observed in 2012).  In addition, the calls for Springboard programmes in 2016 and 2017 combined approved almost 300 places on courses related to the construction sector.