Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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613. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the regional breakdown of the network of regional skills fora; and the contact details for the forum managers. [9786/22]

Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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614. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the recent engagements between the network of regional skills fora in relation to foreign direct investment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9787/22]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 613 and 614 together.

Ireland places central importance on skills policy and human capital development. Ireland has an advanced system of skills provision, across Further and Higher Education, lifelong learning and human capital development, which is agile and responsive to changes in the world of work, in order to address evolving skills needs. As outlined in the 2021 National Economic Recovery Plan, skills and human capital are important elements in Ireland’s broader labour market and economic policy approach, and in allowing Ireland to compete on an international stage and for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).

The National Skills Council (NSC) and nine Regional Skills Fora (RSF), created under the National Skills Strategy, foster engagement and collaboration between enterprise and the education and training system, and relevant Government Departments and agencies. In developing our skills policy, this partnership approach, including with the enterprise agencies such as IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland, is key.

IDA Ireland is represented on each of the Regional Skills Fora. Where needed, the RSF managers work closely with IDA Ireland to address the skills needs of their client companies, including talent attraction and retention and upskilling / reskilling needs of existing employees. Engagement, where relevant, also takes the form of (a) individual IDA client companies being referred to the RSF managers to undertake skills analysis and facilitate introductions with relevant regional education and training providers; (b) IDA Ireland representation on a range of RSF led steering groups/clusters and participation in sectoral studies in collaboration with the RSF managers, for example in areas such as cybersecurity, manufacturing and engineering.

Looking forward, the OECD Skills Strategy Project, which I launched in November, will greatly assist my Department in its examination of our National Skills Strategy and approach - in order to ensure that we have a solid foundation on which to build Ireland’s competitiveness and support economic and social sustainability into the future. The RSF are a key engagement platform throughout the OECD project, leveraging their existing networks to engage with large and small enterprises across Ireland and to ensure alignment at regional and national level in relation to skills issues.

Regarding the breakdown of the Regional Skills Fora network, the RSF cover the following nine regions:

Dublin – Dublin

Mid East – Kildare, Meath, Wicklow

Mid West – Clare, Limerick, Tipperary (North)

Midlands – Laois, Longford, Offaly, Westmeath

North East – Cavan, Louth, Monaghan

North West – Donegal, Leitrim, Sligo

South East – Carlow, Kilkenny, Tipperary (South), Waterford, Wexford

South West – Cork, Kerry

West – Galway, Mayo, Roscommon  

Contact information for each Regional Skills Fora manager is provided below.

Dublin – Natasha Kinsella (natashakinsella@regionalskills.ie)

Mid East – Siobhán Keogh (siobhankeogh@regionalskills.ie)

Mid West – Joe Leddin (joeleddin@regionalskills.ie)

Midlands – John Costello (jcostello@regionalskills.ie)

North East – Ray Murphy (raymurphy@regionalskills.ie)

North West – Hilary McPartland (hilarymcpartland@regionalskills.ie) 

South East – Edmond Connolly (edmondconnolly@regionalskills.ie)

South West – Siobhan Bradley (siobhanbradley@regionalskills.ie)

West – Denise Rocks (deniserocks@regionalskills.ie)