Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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99. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment his plans to deal with the recruitment crisis presently facing all trade and retail sectors; the incentives his Department will be introducing to encourage persons to return to the workplace; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43836/21]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The Government is committed to creating the right environment for a jobs-led recovery and to getting people back to work as quickly as possible. Our Economic Recovery Plan outlines ongoing support for people and businesses to make a full return to work and sets out medium term policies to promote sustainable and balanced growth, as well as signalling the gradual phasing out of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment. The overarching ambition in our Economic Recovery Plan is to have 2.5 million people in work by 2024, exceeding pre-pandemic levels.

The past year has been a difficult year for most businesses, including those in the retail sector. As the largest private sector employer, the retail sector plays a critical role in contributing to the Irish economy and in providing for the needs of society. It is vital that our retail sector continues to develop capability and remains competitive.

The number of PUP recipients in the Wholesale and Retail Sector has been falling since outlets reopened. The sector has seen PUP claimants fall to 22,434 currently, down from the sector’s 2021 peak of 76,606 in February.

Prior to the pandemic the sector was facing challenges with upward cost pressures and the increasing impact of technology. COVID-19 has accelerated structural changes, particularly the shift to digital and online with ripple effects in local economies. My Department has provided specific funding through the COVID-19 Online Retail Scheme and the Trading Online Vouchers Scheme to assist the retail sector to make this transition.

I want the sector to continue to develop and to become one of our most innovative and resilient sectors, so that people can be confident about building a long-term career in retail. My Department will continue to engage with the sector through the Retail Forum, currently chaired by my colleague Damien English, TD, Minister of State for Business and Employment. The forum provides a platform for structured engagement between retail representative bodies, retailers, and the public sector, on key issues for the sector.

Our Economic Recovery Plan also commits to further strengthen Ireland’s Skills Framework to ensure people are supported to secure and remain in sustainable and quality employment. This will be achieved through a combination of upskilling and reskilling with substantially accelerated training and skills opportunities and increased activation capacity through Pathways to Work 2021-2025. The Action Plan for Apprenticeship 2021-2025, which targets 10,000 apprenticeship registrations per annum by 2025, is another important mechanism to address skills shortages. Retail Ireland’s Skillnet Apprenticeship in Retail Supervision and the National Hairdressing Apprenticeship are good examples of programmes providing job-ready qualified professionals. My colleagues, Simon Harris, TD, Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, and Niall Collins, TD, Minister of State for Skills and Further Education, recently announced a further extension of the Apprenticeship Incentivisation Scheme until the end of December 2021 which provides financial support for employers who register apprentices to a national apprenticeship.

We want people to feel safe and be safe as we work through the progressive reopening of our economy and the return to the workplace. My Department, with the Health and Safety Authority, the Department of Health and the HSE developed a Work Safely Protocol which provides a framework for all businesses to operate safely in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. As businesses continue to re-open in accordance with the Government’s latest roadmap, they must do so in accordance with the public health advice and with the COVID-19 mitigation measures set out in the Protocol. The ultimate aim is to keep employers and employees in all sectors safe while also helping businesses to re-open and, more importantly, to remain open and productive.