Hospitality ‘facing skills gap’ after training scheme axed

Ireland’s hospitality sector faces a shortage of trained craft and entry-level workers following the axing of Fáilte Ireland’s training programme, the newly elected President of the Irish Hotels Federation, Michael Vaughan, said.

“We’re facing a skills gap for businesses looking to attract people with the right training. For example, smaller hotels wouldn’t have the facilities to train someone who has no experience working in a busy kitchen,” said Mr Vaughan who was speaking at the Irish Hoteliers Conference in Kilkenny.

As part of a national action plan for hospitality craft-training, he urged the Government to mandate SOLAS to work with the sector to ensure a sustainable supply of trained workers to fill entry level positions.