Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

143. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the plans being developed to entice emigrants to return to Ireland to join the workforce, especially in construction, in which there is a deficit in workers which will impact negatively on the capital programme from 2021 onwards. [14025/21]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

As part of its 2020 work programme, the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs, the independent body that advises the Government on the current and future skills needs of the Irish economy, developed and published Building Future Skills- The Demand for Skills in Ireland’s Built Environment Sector to 2030.

The aim of this study was to identify the nature and quantity of the scale of the skills needs of the Built Environment sector over the next decade, to help support delivery of Government objectives across housing, infrastructural development and climate change mitigation. It was also tasked with development of a suite of recommendations to ensure the sector’s future skills needs are fully addressed by stakeholders through the education and training system and any other relevant sources of skills supply.

A range of industry representative and professional organisations across the Built Environment sector, along with the key public sector stakeholders, inputted into the comprehensive research exercise undertaken in support of this study. They also formed the representative public and private sector steering group that advised on and guided its progress, as well as on the development of suite of recommendations to meet the level of demand for built environment services over the next decade.

In the coming months my officials will be working to establish a public and private sector implementation group to progress the recommendations in the Building Future Skills report, with a view to meeting the demand for skills over the coming decade.

As well as actions focussed on stimulating skills development across the sector and aligning provision with technological and low carbon economy requirements, the report recommended a coordinated campaign, led by industry, with support from education and training providers and Government, to promote careers across Ireland’s Built Environment sector and increase its skills pool.

Actions include a coordinated marketing campaign to promote the sector’s career opportunities, including through the development of a ‘shared identity’ for the sector. This is to be targeted at those of school going age as well as potential career changers and those across other sectors of the economy with skills that are transferable to Built Environment activities.

This campaign is to incorporate existing initiatives to address gender balance within Built Environment activities, as well as industry working with the Department of Social Protection and Education and Training providers to target, recruit and reskill those workers from other sectors finding their job roles becoming redundant due to digitalisation, the transition to a low carbon economy, as well as the impact of Covid-19.

As part of the broader post-pandemic recovery, it is envisaged that this marketing campaign will also encompass the attraction of overseas workers, which already make a significant contribution to the delivery of Ireland’s Built Environment priorities. This is reflected in the representation of EU workers in the Irish workforce, as well as the increased representation of non-EEA workers, following the extension of eligibility for employment permits to a range of Built Environment occupations in 2019.

Efforts have already been made to attract overseas capacity through the promotion of Ireland’s infrastructure project pipeline at the World Expo and as part of Ireland’s annual trade delegations for St Patrick’s Day. My officials will also engage with the Department of Foreign Affairs as it implements Global Ireland- Ireland’s Diaspora Strategy 2020-2025 in the coming years. The strategy highlights the benefits returning emigrants bring in terms of skills and knowledge gained abroad, which can help develop both the national and local economies. To this end, it commits to improving the provision of information on returning to Ireland as well as the dissemination of information on skills needs.