Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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292. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht to provide an update on the actions he is taking to address labour shortages in the hospitality and tourism sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6600/25]

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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This Government is am acutely aware of the importance of the tourism sector as a key economic driver and employer in our country. Although the challenges that were present in the industry in 2022 are still present to some degree, in just two years significant progress has been made through the efforts of businesses, the sector and Government. My colleague, Minister Peter Burke TD, in light of his role as the Minister who will have formal responsibility for the tourism sector once the function has been transferred to him by Government Order, will be to the fore in maintaining a whole of government focus on the tourism industry.

Fáilte Ireland, the National Tourism Development Authority, is funded to promote careers in the sector with initiatives in place focused on targeting jobseekers, students and their career influencers like teachers and guidance counsellors. Its research has shown that recruitment and retention has become less difficult for the third year in a row, as measures taken by employers seem to be having an overall positive effect. Through the Employer Excellence Programme there is impact across key areas such as greater retention of new starters, changing perceptions around reward and recognition and improved employee communication and involvement, all contributing to high rates of engagement and improved retention.

It is incumbent on the sector to continue to attract and retain the best people to work and build careers in their sector. This Government will continue to support that effort through ensuring the delivery of the required education and training programmes, by engagement with our European counterparts in utilising talent pools from third countries when it is not possible to source the talent from within the European Economic Area and by ensuring that the employment permit system is fit for purpose.

The Programme for Government has committed to expand courses in tourism and hospitality utilising the National Training Fund. This week my officials are meeting with counterparts in the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science to discuss how this commitment will be realised.

During 2024 Fáilte Ireland's initiatives included partnering with the Department of Social Protection to deliver a programme of targeted workshops to support over 100 tourism employers in their immediate recruitment efforts and to promote roles in the sector to 650 jobseekers; direct engagement with 75,000 second level students to drive awareness and consideration of courses and careers in tourism, complemented by targeted social media campaigns, delivered at key times in the CAO cycle to encourage students to apply for a third level course in tourism; and its TY Work Placement Programme which continued to provide hundreds of opportunities for transition year students to undertake a structured work placement with 185 employers across the country taking part.

Fáilte Ireland also supports businesses to upskill employees and drive professional development for staff at all levels, which is critical to retention. Its LearniFI online learning platform launched in 2023 for tourism employees has, since then, upskilled over 9,300 employees with content focused on areas most critical to business performance, including onboarding supports, people management, digital skills, and climate action.

Fáilte Ireland's third focus area is on driving long-term change by supporting the sector to continuously provide excellent workplaces and drive great employee engagement, and its Employer Excellence Programme is central to this. In 2024, 27,300 employees were independently surveyed with participating business getting a detailed report on what they are doing well and areas for development. Fáilte Ireland provides one-to-one clinics to support participating employers to action key findings from their surveys and to continue to drive improvements in the workplace environment.? In addition a series of regional events and supports were delivered to upskill 200 supervisors across the country in managing a multi-generational workforce as well as driving best practice performance management. It will continue to deliver supports that meet business needs emerging from the Employer Excellence Programme insights.

I am confident that the efforts of businesses, the sector and Government will continue to deliver improvements in meeting labour force requirements for this sector.