Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

103. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the details of work by his Department in providing research and analysis support to the expert group on future skills needs in respect to the future needs of each of the highly successful biopharma, med tech, information and communications technology and food tech manufacturing sectors in Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36423/21]

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

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 enhanced.

The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, as well as its enterprise agencies, Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland, are members of the group, along with the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, the Higher Education Authority, SOLAS, and representation from the business and trade union communities.

The EGFSN Secretariat is based in the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and provides research and analysis support to the Group’s sectoral and thematic research studies, which are funded through the National Training Fund. As part of Ireland’s National Skills Architecture, the EGFSN helps inform the work of the National Skills Council, which advises on the prioritisation of identified skills needs and the allocation of resources across the education and training system to address these needs.

Over the past five years the EGFSN has undertaken a range of studies relevant to the biopharma, medtech, information and communications technology and foodtech manufacturing sectors in Ireland. These studies have been informed by comprehensive engagement and consultation across Ireland’s enterprise base, including with Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland and their client companies.

These studies have included 2016’s Future Skills Needs of the Biopharma Industry in Ireland; 2017’s Update on Future Skills Needs in the Food and Drink Sector, developed in support of the Foodwise 2025 strategy; and 2018’s Addressing the Skills Needs Arising from the Potential Trade Implications of Brexit,which examined the trade diversification and logistics related skills needs of a number of sectors, including Agri-Food and Health Lifesciences, in a hard Brexit scenario.

The EGFSN has also played a key role in the ICT Skills Action Plan process, since the inception of the Plans in 2012. Its latest High Level ICT Skills study, 2019’s Forecasting the Demand for High Level ICT Skills in Ireland, 2017-2022, was a key evidence based input into the development of Technology Skills 2022- Ireland’s Third ICT Skills Action Plan. The EGFSN has further supported the ICT skills agenda through its studies on design skills- 2017’s Winning by Design and 2020’s Together for Design.

More generally, 2020’s Leading the Way- Investing in Management Development for SME Productivity and Growth examined the area of management development, a key cross sectoral skill need. It has also examined the skills impacts of digitalisation across all sectors of the economy, in 2018’sDigital Transformation- Assessing the Impact of Digitalisation on Ireland’s Workforce.

As part of its 2021 work programme, the Group is also considering the skills required to deploy, manage and regulate artificial intelligence, with a view to realising the productivity, growth and innovation potential of AI, to ensure it is adopted in a trustworthy manner, and to allow its adoption by large and small firms. This study is scheduled to be published in Q4 2021.