Written answers

Wednesday, 15 September 2021

Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment

Labour Market

Photo of Bernard DurkanBernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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161. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the degree to which efforts are being made to source an adequate supply of operatives to facilitate the meat-processing sector, having particular regard to the serious backlog that currently exists affecting the island of Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43416/21]

Photo of Damien EnglishDamien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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Policy responsibility for food production, including meat processing, is a matter for my colleague, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

Food Wise 2025 sets out a ten-year plan for the agri-food sector. It underlines the sector’s unique and special position within the Irish economy, and it illustrates the potential which exists for this sector to grow even further. The creation of 23,000 additional jobs all along the supply chain from producer level to high-end value-added product development are among the ambitious and challenging growth projections for the industry over the timeframe of the plan.

Ireland operates a managed employment permits system maximising the benefits of economic migration and minimising the risk of disrupting Ireland’s labour market. The employment permits regime is designed to facilitate the entry of appropriately skilled non-EEA nationals to fill skills and/or labour shortages in the State, required to develop and support enterprise for the benefit of our economy. However, this objective must be balanced by the need to ensure that there are no suitably qualified Irish/EEA nationals available to undertake the work and that the shortage is a genuine one.

The employment permits system is managed through the operation of the critical skills and ineligible occupations lists which determine employments that are either in high demand or are ineligible for consideration for an employment permit and these lists are subject to twice-yearly evidenced based review.

In May 2018 a pilot quota-based scheme was introduced to remove the occupations of meat processing operative, horticulture worker and dairy farm assistant from the ineligible occupations list. The scheme initially provided 250 general employment permits for the meat processing industry to address the immediate needs of the sector in sourcing labour. On foot of further evidence produced by the sector, in consultation with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, it was decided to extend the pilot scheme on three occasions. A total of 2,500 permits were made available to meat processing operatives. A total of 660 permits have been made available for meat deboners. The extensions of the pilot scheme for meat processing operatives ensured that the sector’s immediate difficulties were addressed and the potential that a lack of available labour could constrict growth was minimised. Both these quotas are now exhausted.

In June 2021, I announced the outcome of the most recent review of the occupation lists with changes made in respect of certain occupations in the healthcare sector. No change was recommended in respect of the meat processing sector at that time, given the continuing uncertainty in the labour market caused by COVID-19.

A further review is underway at present with consideration of the 26 submissions received. The review is expected to be finalised in the early Autumn.

Photo of Sorca ClarkeSorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein)
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162. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment his plans to deal with the reported current shortfall in construction workers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43493/21]

Photo of Leo VaradkarLeo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The Expert Group on Future Skills Needs (EGFSN) is the independent, non-statutory body that advises the Government on projected skills requirements across the Irish economy and makes recommendations on how existing education and training systems and delivery mechanisms, as well as other sources of skills supply, can be improved.

My Department provides research and secretarial support to the Group, and as part of the national skills architecture, the EGFSN's analysis helps inform the work of the National Skills Council, which advises on the prioritisation of identified skills needs and the allocation resources across the education and training system to address these needs.

As part of its 2020 and 2021 work programme, the EGFSN has engaged in a series of studies examining the nature and quantity of skills needs across the wider built environment sector over the medium to long term, in line with the Government's ambitions across housing, infrastructural development and built environment energy efficiency.

These include the 2020 report, Building Future Skills- The Demand for Skills in Ireland's Built Environment Sector to 2030; the forthcoming paper Labour Demand Estimates for Ireland's National Housing Targets, 2021-2030, the EGFSN's contribution to the development of Housing for All; and the forthcoming report on Skills for the Zero Carbon Economy, which amongst other areas examines the skills needs arising from the Government's residential retrofit targets and the construction skills needs resulting from renewable energy projects.

Through the EGFSN Secretariat's close engagement with relevant stakeholders, this analysis, which includes detailed breakdown and forecasts of skills needs at occupational level, as well as recommendations aimed at enhancing skills supply across the built environment sector, is informing skills planning across Government, industry and the education and training system.

This includes informing the broader campaign aimed at promoting construction career opportunities, which is being undertaken by the Construction Sector Group, representative of the sector's key public and private stakeholders; the alignment of education and training programmes and graduate output by the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, its agencies, and Higher Education and Further Education and Training providers; the transitioning, where feasible, of the unemployed into construction sector roles under the new Pathways to Work, 2021-2025 strategy; and the continued responsiveness of the employment permit system to identified skills needs across the construction sector.

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