17th Mar 2014

Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton and Minister for Education and Skills Ruairí Quinn announced the Government’s ICT Skills Action Plan on Friday, March 14.

Minister Bruton said the plan is aimed at making Ireland a global leader in information technology.

As part of the plan, the Government said it will provide 1,250 additional undergraduate places on ICT courses. It also intends to issue up to 2,000 work permits per year for ICT professionals.

Currently 60% of industry demand is met by graduates from Ireland, but the action plan envisages that figure will rise to 74% by 2018.

The tech sector currently employs 105,000 people around the country.

“As part of the Government’s drive to make Ireland the most attractive location globally for ICT Skills it is essential that we have a good pipeline of highly skilled graduates to meet the demands of industry,” commented Mr Quinn.

He said the country needs to be more ambitious and that is why the Government has set a target of meeting almost three quarters of industry demands here by 2018.

Mr Bruton said that the ICT sector is a key part of the Government’s Action Plan for Jobs, with significant
jobs growth seen in this area over the past two years.

“If we are to sustain and build on this, it is crucial that we deal with one of the biggest issues facing the ICT industry
worldwide – skills shortages. We have set out the ambition of making Ireland the most attractive location in the world for ICT skills, and we are delivering on that through a combination of Irish educated people and talent from abroad,” he said.

Full story here. The ICT Skills Action Plan 2014 is available by clicking the image here: