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The Minister for Education and Skills, Jan O’Sullivan, T.D., has today welcomed the launch of the Government’s Action Plan for Jobs 2016.

This fifth Action Plan for Jobs is presented at a critical juncture in Ireland’s transformation from an economy recovering from the most severe recession to a competitive, innovative and highly productive economy providing sustainable full employment for its people.

This year’s Action Plan for Jobs (APJ) will build on the reforms of previous years in the areas of talent, competitiveness, entrepreneurship, innovation, reducing red-tape and in fostering new sources of growth for the economy. The objectives and actions set out in this Plan are designed to achieve specific outcomes including jobs, exports, start-ups, market penetration, innovation, efficiency of public interaction with business, and finance and investment for enterprise.

The Department of Education and Skills (DES) and its agencies has a central role to play in the implementation of the Action Plan for Jobs, delivering the relevant education and training to assist the unemployed in entering the workforce and upskilling others to take up positions in a rapidly evolving jobs market.

Minister O’Sullivan said “Officials in my Department, together with myself and Minister English, will continue to work closely with our colleagues in DJEI and other Government Departments to deliver all of the education and training measures contained in the 2016 Action Plan. This will ensure that we are putting in place the right measures to enable individuals to upskill and reskill, particularly in areas of emerging skill needs leading to sustainable employment opportunities.”

The Action Plan sets out actions for the five Disruptive Reforms proposed for 2016, as follows:-

• A Step-Up in Enterprise Skills Supply
• Stimulating Regional Growth
• All Government transactions with business online by 2017- Reducing red tape
• National Clustering Initiative
• Driving Intellectual Property in Enterprise

The majority of the measures for the DES and its agencies are contained under the Step-Up in Enterprise Skills Supply disruptive reform. Key education measures in this section will include the development of a new National Skills Strategy (expected to be published Q1 2016), the development of a Workforce Development Strategy, new apprenticeship programmes, the establishment of the Regional Skills Fora as a mechanism for enterprise and education and training providers to work together in building the supply of skills for their regions, as well as the launch of the ICT jobs portal. The objective of this reform is to put Ireland in a better place to compete to develop and attract talent in the coming years. This reform builds on the 2015 APJ National Talent Drive Disruptive Reform and on the reforms already underway in the education and training sector to deliver a more dynamic responsive and high quality system and ensure that the skills needs of our growing economy are met.

Minister Damien English said, “By continuing to work together – Government, industry, education and training providers and jobseekers themselves – we can tackle unemployment. I, along with Minister O’Sullivan, am committed to doing everything we can to ensure as many people as possible get back to work.”
ENDS