I have called Deputy Tom Fleming. Can we have order for Deputy Tom Fleming?

The shortage of skilled workers across multiple sectors in Irish industry ties into a failure by the State agencies to produce adequately trained staff for businesses which are expanding and desperately and urgently need staff.

In some cases, industries must recruit from outside the country owing to the lack of qualified staff at home. The Construction Industry Federation published a statement this week about the threat posed by skill shortages to the growth potential of a number of sectors. The Associated Craft Butchers of Ireland has also expressed concern about the failure of State-funded apprenticeships and training courses to meet demand in its sector. The car business has raised concerns about the lack of mechanics, qualified technicians and skilled personnel. That sector is experiencing a considerable recovery and seeing significant growth in employment opportunities, but car dealers have had to seek to employ people from abroad to fill vacancies. According to the motoring executive, an extra 4,500 people have been employed in the sector in the recent past and there is the potential to create a further 5,000 jobs during the next few years. In County Kerry a couple of firms that recently sought to fill vacancies for qualified welders and fabricators failed to fill them. One firm needs up to 40 highly skilled welders, but regrettably the agencies are not providing suitably qualified people to fill such positions. The quality of training has been substandard. We, therefore, need to up the tempo, as the quality of training has not been in line with industry's needs. For example, there is a major shortfall in various categories of chef and in-house worker in the hospitality and hotel industries, respectively. We are falling far short of meeting such needs adequately.

A question, please.

I wish to raise a couple of issues in dealing with this subject. Why is the Government being so unresponsive to the needs of industry by not offering courses relevant to the jobs market? The Tánaiste mentioned the pick-up in the housing sector, but surely it is apparent that we are not meeting requirements for plasterers, carpenters, bricklayers, painters and decorators. Where are the incentives for employers to provide meaningful training for potential staff? I can see none, to be honest.

Recently, the National Youth Council of Ireland commented on the JobBridge programme. People do not feel like they are a part of productive teams. In many cases, they believe they are being used. The programme should be revamped. As the economy grows, surely we should be providing high quality and well trained interns and apprentices and allowing young people to contribute to the good news stories about the pick-up in the economy.

First, as I said, I am very happy to say the live register now stands at 10%, given that at the height of the crisis it reached 15.1%. The arrangements for helping people to find work have changed significantly. First, I am delighted to say apprenticeships have restarted, including in the wet trades in the construction industry. I met the CIF on a number of occasions in recent times to talk about the need to get the system of apprenticeships in Ireland under a revamped model going again. The Deputy may have seen that in recent times the ESB, Irish Rail, the OPW, Bord Gáis, eircom and a number of other major companies have all restarted apprenticeships, including in the skilled areas he mentioned. What is important is that we continue to build on this. The newly reformed Apprenticeship Council of Ireland has issued a request to interested persons, industries and businesses to bring forward proposals for additional apprenticeships and traineeships not covered by traditional apprenticeship skills. In countries such as Germany and Austria, for instance, the latter being a small country like Ireland, there is a range of apprenticeships available in retail to banking, administration and different areas of the technology sector. The model is extremely well developed.

I regularly meet people from industries in Ireland. We also have in the Department of Social Protection a labour market council of key employers. We will shortly move to an account management system of key staff in the Department who will connect directly with the 500 biggest employers in Ireland with a view to ensuring some of the vacancies that arise to be filled can be targeted and filled by persons on the live register. If we need to provide additional training or specific training to help them to fill those jobs, we are doing so. If the Deputy has a specific example in mind in County Kerry or the south west, I would be happy through the local Intreo office-----

All over the place.

Obviously, Clonmel, Bansha and everywhere else in County Tipperary.

Around the house and mind the dresser.

I can assure the Deputy that they will have my full attention, as will everywhere else in the country. However, there has been a problem for a long time in towns such as Tralee where there are many young men not working. What Deputy Tom Fleming is saying about the construction industry is correct. We need to ensure as many of these young men as possible have an opportunity, if that is their wish, to be involved in the construction business as it returns. That is a choice many of them want to make.

We are revamping apprenticeships. Just last week, as the Deputy probably knows, the OPW opened a special apprenticeship training course in County Kerry covering traditional but very important skills such as stonemasonry and other specialist construction skills. The Deputy may actually have attended its launch.

Do not forget welders.

I think about thatching also.

It is a well known fact that we have one of the highest youth unemployment rates in Europe, at approximately 25%. If we take into account the thousands who have been forced to emigrate, the figure would be well over 30%, which is unacceptable as we are letting down a large cohort. This represents a major potential long-term loss to society. We must acknowledge that young people are our greatest resource. Every effort should be made to facilitate and channel them into training courses that properly meet the demands of industry. This will involve upskilling and reskilling to respond to the needs of the economy in general. We must also provide incentives and encouragement for the many emigrants we have lost in order to attract them back to Ireland. The experience they have gained will be valuable for the country's future. If we do not develop the right skills, employers will begin to question why they have set up shop in this country. This is already happening and in vogue. It is apparent that we must boost the number of people with intermediate skills, as opposed to those with university degrees, if we are to fill the gaps in the labour market and provide good and sustainable jobs for the long-term unemployed. Co-ordination and cohesion are required between, for example, the Departments of Social Protection and Education and Skills.

I am sure they are working together, but this must be brought to a higher level, to include, in addition, the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation. There is a huge shortfall in the number of computer programmers in this country. The courses in universities are not adequate to meet the demands of modern industry, with outdated technologies and so on being taught. We need to get our act together and ensure we produce graduates who are able to avail of sustainable job opportunities.

The development of a regional economic strategy means that in the case of Kerry, for instance, we will see the Kerry Technology Park expanded and developed. There are a lot of IT-type industries and technologically-based service businesses which will be attracted to Kerry. The chambers of commerce in the county, including the Tralee chamber, members of which I met with recently in the town, have very ambitious plans and are working with IDA Ireland to achieve them. The latter now has regional officers in place, rather than having people from Dublin coming down occasionally. The regional officers are there to attract industrial, business and commercial development and foreign direct investment into areas like Kerry and the regions in general.

Another important aspect of our work in this area is our use of the embassy network, IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland to make contact with the emigrants, many of whom are very young, who went abroad when times were difficult. Now, having worked abroad, they could well fill the vacancies that have arisen here in a context where some areas are actually experiencing a skills shortage. All along the western seaboard, we are seeking to engage with people who emigrated but now want to return home. This is a very important part of public policy. Emigrants are beginning to return home in significant numbers and recruitment companies are focusing very specifically on them.

My colleague, Deputy Arthur Spring, has been involved in a number of Kerry-based initiatives to draw foreign direct investment into the county, build on what is there already, and develop the Kerry Technology Park and the Institute of Technology, Tralee so as to have a complementary development of courses at both technician and graduate level. In regard to apprenticeships, I certainly hope we will see, under the education and training boards and with the support of SOLAS, an increase in the number of apprenticeships across the country. For the 20% or so of our young people who do not want to go down the third level route directly, apprenticeships, traineeships and work experience are a very valuable way of getting them into employment. It is greatly to be welcomed that youth unemployment has fallen very significantly nationally.