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Four centers to train 2,000 people in adaptive skills will be opened at education and training board (ETB) centers across the country.
Centers of Excellence will open in Limerick and Clare ETB, Mayo Sligo and Leitrim ETB, Cork ETB and Laois & Offaly ETB in the next three months.
In announcing the “centers of excellence,” Minister of Continuing and Higher Education Simon Harris said the government had set ambitious targets to modernize 300,000 homes by 2030 “but we must make sure we have the workers to do it.”
Modernization involves making homes more energy efficient to ensure lower heating and energy bills, and Harris said the four centers of excellence would train 2,000 people in modernization skills, including near-zero-energy building qualifications.
High standards
This training is already provided in a series of higher and complementary education centers and the minister said that “the centers of excellence in modernization provide the highest standards of training and qualifications to the people who assist them.”
“This is a very important area of the economy and there are tremendous job opportunities within it.”
He said that Laois & Offaly ETB would have a particular focus for Bord na Móna employees, including a six-day “skills to advance” program in thermal insulation installation.
Bord na Móna employees lost their jobs when ESB ceased production earlier this month at its peat plant in Shannonbridge, Co Offaly and in Lanesboro, Co Longford.
“We have a great deal of work to do to ensure Ireland is climate ready and we need workers to have the right skills to meet these daunting challenges,” Harris said.
He said this training would also be suitable for construction workers who want to “improve their skills in the area of green skills.”
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