Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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It is essential that Irish enterprise has access to an adequate pool of high quality, adaptable and flexible talent – particularly in the context of a tightened labour market and the challenges this poses for businesses in many sectors of the economy.

In order to meet the demand for skills, there is close collaboration across Government, in particular between the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, its agencies and my own Department, as well as between Government, industry, and the education and training system, which together constitute a highly responsive National Skills Architecture. This architecture is overseen by the National Skills Council and aims to develop and retain a highly skilled workforce to serve the needs of the economy.

This architecture draws on the labour market intelligence of the Skills and Labour Market Research Unit of SOLAS and the enterprise skills demand forecast studies of the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs (EGFSN), the Secretariat for which is based in my Department. The EGFSN is currently undarkening sectoral analyses of the current and future skills needs of Ireland’s Biopharma and International Financial Services sectors, and a study to determine the skills required to transform Ireland's construction sector through the widespread adoption of Modern Methods of Construction (MMC). Publication of the studies on Biopharma and International Financial Services is expected in the coming weeks and the MMC report is expected to be published later in Q2 2024.

Ireland’s skills architecture also includes a network of nine Regional Skills Fora, which work to address the skills needs of enterprise to enhance linkages and engagement between local education and training providers and employers, and by helping employers across all sectors better understand and access the full range of services available across the education and training system. Agencies under the auspices of my Department, including the Local Enterprise Offices, Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland, work closely with both indigenous and multinational enterprises of all sizes and sectors and with the wider skills architecture to ensure that skills challenges are addressed.

My Department works closely too with the Department of Social Protection in implementing Pathways to Work, the national employment strategy, and with it the labour market activation of the unemployed, groups underrepresented in the workforce, and workers transitioning to more viable roles or sectors across the economy.

To ensure that the policy objectives of Pathways to Work remain relevant in the current labour market context, a formal mid-term review of the strategy took place in 2023. The Minister for Social Protection will shortly submit the mid-term review and an updated strategy of commitments for consideration by Government. This review is key to ensuring that Government responds effectively to current and upcoming labour market challenges.

My Department also operates an employment permits system which is highly responsive to areas of identified skills needs and labour shortages across the economy. The system is, by design, vacancy led and driven by the changing needs of the labour market. In December 2023, following extensive engagement with industry representatives and stakeholders on the nature and extent of skills shortages, my Department announced a major expansion to the employment permits system, with 43 changes to the jobs eligible for an employment permit. This included 11 roles added to the Critical Skills Occupations List and 32 roles made eligible for a General Employment Permit. A roadmap for increasing salary thresholds was also announced.

Demand for employment permits in Ireland is currently high, with just over 30,000 permits issued in 2023 to employers across all sectors, providing another valuable stream of skilled labour for the Irish economy. The largest numbers of permits issued by sector in 2023 were to employers engaged in health and social work activities (10,037), information and communication activities (5,009), accommodation and food services activities (2,606), and financial and insurance activities (2,373).

All these efforts have been delivering real results as reflected in the growing numbers of people finding work in our economy. According to the latest employment figures from the CSO’s Labour Force Survey, published on 22nd February 2024, total employment stood at 2.71 million. There are now more people employed in Ireland than ever before. As per the CSO Statistical Release on Monthly Unemployment from early April, the seasonally adjusted national unemployment rate was 4.3% in March 2024. My Department will continue ensure that Government is responsive to the skills needs of all sectors of the economy to ensure that this momentum is maintained into the future.