Up to 3,000 jobs in the hospitality industry are being filled largely by workers from abroad because of a lack of training for entry-level workers in the Republic, the Irish Hotels Federation has claimed.
The federation, which last year unsuccessfully lobbied Minister for Tourism Leo Varadkar for a training scheme for the long-term unemployed, said it is hoping to set up a scheme in partnership with the State’s vocational education committees.
Federation president Michael Vaughan said two-thirds of hotels were experiencing difficulty in hiring staff with entry-level training, since Fáilte Ireland abolished its Fetac level-three and four training courses about two years ago. He said: “The jobs are being taken by others. We are still taking in semi-skilled people from outside the State – there is no doubt about that.”
Speaking at the federation’s annual conference in Killarney yesterday, Mr Vaughan said the hospitality industry had set up a pilot training scheme in Galway in partnership with Co Galway VEC. He said 80 people were being trained for jobs in the industry.
Training scheme
Representatives of the hotels federation, restaurateurs and the licensed trade are now working on a proposal for a national training scheme. But he warned a national scheme would require oversight and funding from either the Department of Education or Trade, and possibly both.
Michael Magner of the Vienna Woods Hotel, Cork, said part of the problem in attracting and training staff was some people did not want to work in the industry as there was an unreasonable perception the work was demeaning.
About 400 people are attending the conference.
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