Chambers Ireland call for government to spend National Training Fund surplus on upskilling people seeking International Protection in Ireland

Chambers Ireland call for government to spend National Training Fund surplus on upskilling people seeking International Protection in Ireland

Speaking at the launch of the Chambers Ireland “Closing Skills Gaps: Intensive Language Training” Chambers Ireland’s Chief Executive, Ian Talbot said:

“Chambers Ireland is calling for government, and opposition parties, to take a practical and pragmatic approach towards people who are seeking international protection in Ireland.

“It is a simple fact that an order of magnitude more people are seeking protection in Ireland today than ever before. This must prompt a rethink of how we act.

“We know that wherever they have been tried, intensive language lessons for people seeking international protection raise employment rates and raise earnings. This has a huge impact on the exchequer, the greatest part of which is helping people to become independent means that they are less reliant on social supports.

“The return on investment for these programmes range from 15 to 40 times the original costs. And, even better, there is no negative trade-off for the State – Every month, employers are levied to finance the National Training Fund, which is in surplus. This year we are likely to transfer in excess of €200m to it because the ringfenced income is going unspent.

“Simultaneously, our members are struggling to find people to work as our country has been in full employment for years – 95,000 people joined the workforce in Ireland last year and the unemployment rate has remained flat.

“Meanwhile tens of thousands of people are excluded from the workforce because of the poor English language skills – there’s a common-sense approach which helps these people become independent, helps employers find new staff, and takes pressure off government finances at no cost to the state. We call on all parties to take be pragmatic and reasonable.”

Chambers Ireland’s Head of Policy, Shane Conneely, continued:

“This is the weekend of Céad Míle Fáilte, and we have one hundred thousand people here in Ireland that we need to invest in if they are to be welcome here.

“In principle the state already agrees with this policy, basic language classes are available to people today, but they are not training people to speak English to a level that helps them find work. Yes, it’s useful to know how to buy a cup of tea and get a bus – but any job will require a higher level of language proficiency than that.

“We also don’t need to reinvent the wheel, many other EU countries have been doing intensive language classes for decades, they’re cheap and have an enormous pay back.

“The huge increase in people seeking protection here, since Brexit and since the Russian war on Ukraine means that we simply can’t keep doing what we are doing.”