Address by Minister Micheal Martin at the Launch of the FAS Statement of Strategy 2006-2009

On Tuesday 18^th October 2005

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am very glad to be here today to launch these two very important documents published by FAS. The FÁS Strategy Statement for 2006-2009: Building on Our Visionand the complementary Training Strategytogether provide a blueprint for how FAS will contribute to the achievement of a knowledge-based economy over the next four years.

This development of our economy into one that is both knowledge-based and innovation-driven is crucial to our on-going prosperity. The Enterprise Strategy Group Report and the Government’s Action Plan to implement it made that clear.

Labour market policy, and FAS as the key labour market agency, will play a significant role in this going forward. Two policy areas are particularly important in this regard:

• First, we must continue to increase our focus on up-skilling those in the workforce, and
• Second, we must equip those not yet in the labour force to play a full part in it.

I welcome the continued focus the FAS Strategy Statement is putting on these areas through their identification as the high priority goals of `Entry to the Labour Market’, `Workforce Development’ and `Social Inclusion’.

As regards, up-skilling those already in the workforce through Workforce Development, the FAS One Step Up initiative, which I launched last month, will be crucial in this going forward. This initiative, on which FAS is spending €35 million this year, will help up-skill our workforce and encourage a process of Lifelong learning. This initiative focuses in particular on lower skilled workers in SMEs, as that is where the greatest need lies.

Together with the new National Framework of Qualifications, One Step Up will help create a more flexible and accessible career ladder for everyone wishing to improve their skills, knowledge and qualifications.

Our economy is expected to enjoy continued growth into the medium term and that growth will be ever more dependent on us providing the sort of highly qualified workers that companies require to meet their competitive needs.

However, we tend to forget that even in the hi-tech sector, for every job requiring a post-graduate degree there are four or five posts that require people with vocational qualifications. That proportion rises significantly when we look at other sectors of the economy. In fact, studies conducted by FÁS and other agencies suggest that it is in the lower to middle range of occupations, especially those in the services sector, that the greatest need exists to improve skills and productivity.

The FÁS Strategy Statementand the Training Strategyreports spell out very clearly that future economic growth will depend on increasing the productivity of the workforce at all levels, from school leavers upwards.

There is a particular need to up-skill older workers, many of whom were the early school leavers of their own generation. They tend to be located in traditional industries and have acquired skills that are not easily transferable. These older employees are half as likely to receive training as younger ones.

While a recent survey showed that there has been a welcome increase in the number of people at working age receiving education and training – from 5% to 10% in the seven years to 2003, we still need to do more if we are going to reach the 12.5% level recommended by EU Employment Guidelines for a knowledge based economy.

The benefits of investment in education and training are well established. Indeed, research has shown that they compare favorably with investment in infrastructure. However, just as infrastructure needs to be constantly renewed, if we do not set aside resources to constantly up-skill and retrain our workers we will be left behind in the constantly modernising global marketplace.

The apprenticeship system is of course one of the great success stories of FÁS and it owes much to the partnership approach to training that involves both employers and trade unions. One of the most interesting projects to be undertaken over the next four years will be to extend the apprenticeship model beyond the traditional trades, to cover people in other occupations as well.

Management skills are also critical to the success of our economy, particularly where SMEs are concerned. Many owners and managers in this sector lack the time and resources to develop their business skills in areas as diverse as marketing, finance and employee relations. I welcome the fact that FÁS will provide SME training that will be locally based and outside business hours.

It is widely recognised that we still need to convince many individual workers, and employers, of the benefits to be obtained from further education and training. Only then can we develop a widespread culture of lifelong learning where people continually seek new skills and impart them to colleagues. The widespread adoption of life long learning will only take place when individuals, especially lower-skilled employees, are able to take time during the working day to attend formal education and training programmes.

Some companies, especially the larger ones, already facilitate this. We need to look at innovative ways of ensuring that unskilled and low-skilled workers, especially those in the traditional manufacturing sector, have real access to training.

I earlier welcomed the emphasis which the new FAS Strategy Statement places on social inclusion. In this regard, I would like to draw particular attention to the importance that the Government places addressing the problems that people with disabilities face.

It was for that reason that I this summer launched the FAS Wage Subsidy Scheme for people with disabilities. Under that scheme incentives are available to employers to employ people with disabilities and I hope that many will do so.

I also see that the new Strategy Statement emphasizes the contribution that FAS will make to the development of a national skills strategy. I welcome this. My own view is that the development of such a strategy is very important. That is why my Department has recently asked the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs to commission a study into what our skills requirements will be in the future, in the context of a more knowledge-driven economy. This study will facilitate the putting in place of a strategic framework for skills development for the period to 2020. I know that FAS will make a significant contribution to this work through its participation in the Expert Group.

Conclusion

In conclusion then, I would say that I am confident that the Strategy Statement for 2006-2009: Building on Our Visionand the Training Strategywill together provide an excellent framework for FAS to continue to develop our workforce over the next four years.

It only remains for me to thank the Chairman – Brian Geoghegan, the board members, the Director General Rody Molloy and the staff of FÁS for their efforts in this regard and to wish FAS well in implementing its new Strategy in the period to 2009.

Thank you.

ENDS

ETE 1436