Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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311. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the action he has taken to identify and address skill shortages in the construction sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36360/18]

John Halligan (Waterford, Independent)
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Securing additional skills supply from education and training to meet the needs of 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 (NDP) and the National Planning Framework (NPF).

A Construction Sector Working Group is being established to ensure regular and open dialogue between Government and the construction sector in relation to issues that may impact on the successful delivery of the NDP on a value-for-money basis for the State.  As set out in the NDP, part of the Construction Group's remit will be to consider the supply of necessary skills and enhancing the capacity of the sector. The NDP also highlights the importance of examining the role of Building Information Modelling and adopting other technologies and innovative practices in driving improving productivity and efficiencies.  The work of the Group will, therefore have an important role to play in ensuring that the construction sector enhances its capacity to meet infrastructural priorities over the next decade.

In responding to specific skill needs for the construction sector, a particular focus of my Department and the education and training sector more generally has been an expansion in apprenticeship recruitment.

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.

Construction related apprenticeship 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% bringing the total number of construction related registrations to 2,963. 

The range of apprenticeships on offer is also being expanded to meet the identified skill needs of the sector. 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, 26 further new programmes arising from last year’s second call for proposals were approved for further development 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 programmes provided by Education and Training Boards (ETBs) during 2017.  Separately, following a series of discussions with the Construction Industry Federation, 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.