Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North, Fine Gael)

Recently, there was serious concern among the staff of the carpentry and joinery section of the engineering department of the Institute of Technology Tralee when they were informed of a proposal to centralise apprenticeship education into two national centres which may not include the Institute of Technology Tralee.

Carpentry and joinery education has been catered for continuously in Kerry by Kerry VEC, Tralee VEC, Tralee RTC and the Institute of Technology Tralee, through peaks and troughs in the building industry and through every recession since the vocational system was established in 1930. Back then, the apprenticeship system was controlled and maintained by the Department of Education. In more recent times, FÁS was given central control of the apprenticeship scheme.

The Institute of Technology Tralee has catered for the needs of carpentry and joinery for the construction industry. It has been providing services in the south west region for all these years and has a strong connection with the construction industry and the public in general. The institute also runs the only agricultural mechanics course for apprentices in the country. It enforces the need to maintain the trade of carpentry and joinery as there is commonality of theoretical subjects such as mathematics and geometry.

The Institute of Technology Tralee has invested heavily in facilities to ensure that its apprentices are trained to the highest standards for current and future industrial requirements. Parallel to this, student numbers have grown to reach a peak of 1,628 three times a year. In the past, the institute has facilitated requests to run summer blocks to alleviate backlogs of student numbers up to and including the summer of 2009.

The institute was the only one in the country to maintain carpentry and joinery courses through the 1980s recession and has been a mainstay for the trade over the years. Some institutes have only returned to the trade in recent years and consequently lack the continuity of experience which the Institute of Technology Tralee offers. Initially, the institute catered for students from the catchment area of Kerry, north Cork and west Limerick but due to the boom in the construction industry students have been travelling to Tralee from all over the country. These increased numbers have been of huge economic benefit to the town of Tralee which has suffered considerably from a lack of industrial jobs over the past 20 years in particular.

The 12 members of staff have taken an active role in the development of the carpentry and joinery section, including syllabi feedback, student support and self study, writing texts for the trade, participation in assessment procedures and development of state of the art workshops. The institute has an impeccable record of health and safety in carpentry and joinery, due in part to the diligence of staff but also to the constant updating of modern machinery and facilities.

The provision of carpentry and joinery, if lost, could be very difficult to replace. Therefore, it is imperative that the Institute of Technology Tralee maintains a core student enrolment in carpentry and joinery throughout the downturn so as to enable the institute to cater for the future provision once the recession has passed.

The management of the Institute of Technology Tralee met with Higher Education Authority representatives in December 2009 to present them with the arguments to maintain this education service in the college. The future of carpentry and joinery education in the institute will be determined by the HEA in conjunction with the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe. The south west region has suffered loss of services in other areas such as health and transport so it is vital for the region that we do not suffer further losses in education. This is why it is critical that we preserve the provision of carpentry and joinery education at the Institute of Technology Tralee.

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