Celebrating 50 Years of the IITD


IITD Through The Ages:


The Evolution of the L&D Agenda 1970-1990


Pat Campbell, Past President IITD


It was during the 1960s that Ireland’s industrial development began in earnest. Protectionist policies were dropped and the then Taoiseach set out a national plan to develop industry and attract foreign investment. It was then Ireland began a period of economic development moving the country from a mainly agricultural economy to a modern industrial society. However, this highlighted the gaping chasm of the skills shortage in the country, which, until then, saw national training primarily confined to apprenticeships and the professions. It also became clear that the voluntarist system, which left it up to employers to train or not to train, was not going to provide the pool of skilled labour required to attract foreign companies to establish roots in Ireland. Government intervention was then to be accelerated by the fact that foreign companies saw training and development of employees as a fundamental priority in their investment.


The Government White paper 1965 contained the bulk of recommendations set out in the International Labour Organisation Report of 1962. A Dáil Committee set up in 1963, acknowledged the need for the training of a workforce to attract foreign companies and with the setting up of a national industrial training authority.


The Industrial Training Act of 1967 saw the setting up of AnCo (An Comhairle Oiliuna). This organisation was given full responsibility for industrial training including apprenticeship


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and also to include an advisory service to industry. The advisory service was the first government intervention in providing training services to employers. Around that time the IDA (Industrial Development Authority) also provided a range of grants to new foreign set-ups which included quite extensive training grants.


AnCo was permitted to apply a training levy on companies both foreign and indigenous. This was the introduction of the training levy/grant scheme which allowed companies to recover 90% of their levy on the delivery of appropriate training.


Part of AnCo’s remit was also to set up industrial training committees consisting of employers, trade unionists and educationalists. This was intended to include employers in the development of relevant training. These committees identified the immediate training needs of their respective industries and this determined the training to be grant aided each year.


To participate in the levy/grant scheme, companies were obliged to have a training manager/officer in situ. Training was provided for training personnel and this was to begin the origins of the IITD as mentioned in the previous edition of this publication. Over time, a number of the original training managers/officers, left their industries and operated as private training providers. This would provide a valuable resource in delivering training to companies.


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