Sir, - The Irish Institute of Training and Development shares the sentiments expressed in your editorial of August 28th concerning the outstanding vacancies in the catering industry. Our magazine Arena carried a leading article on the same topic in the August/September issue. It is hoped that the attendant publicity will galvanise action in a number of areas.
Obviously the catering industry itself should recruit domestically, both because of the quality of people available and the obvious need for new jobs in the community. Equally, conditions of employment are important. A chef in a leading Irish hotel, interviewed for Arena, said that Irish-trained chefs were often overlooked by employers in favour of foreign ones. Irish chefs are just as good if they're given the chance. However, pay and conditions need to improve", he added.
According to John Power, president of the Irish Hotels Federation, there is no bias against Irish chefs. "They're in demand all over the world, but the big growth in tourism has brought certain pressures. The training has not kept pace with demand, and there is a need for a co-operative approach between the industry and CERT. There isn't enough liaison between industry and training," he said.
Nor, it seems, is there enough money to be earned in tourism and catering. CERT's research has found that three-quarters of those in the industry were earning less than £10,000 a year, compared with the average industrial wage of £14,000. Coupled with this are the long hours that employees have to put up with. Only 37, per cent of graduates worked between 41 and 50 hours a week, while a further 20 per cent worked between 51 and 80 hours. The national average for industrial workers is 40.8 hours a week.
The Irish Institute of Training and Development welcomes the Trainers in Industry programme from CERT. The hotel and catering industry will benefit from a well-trained and competent pool of dedicated people, and it is therefore imperative that they respond with realistic salaries and hours of work. - Yours, etc.,
PRO, Irish Institute of Training and Development, (The professional body representing trainers), 14 Herbert Street, Dublin 2.