Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The Government has set an ambitious target to retrofit 500,000 homes by 2030. The Report on the Analysis of Skills for Residential Construction & Retrofitting, 2023 to 2030and Skills for Zero Carbon – The Demand for Renewable Energy, Residential Retrofit and Electric Vehicle Deployment Skills to 2030, have outlined a number of recommendations in both residential retrofitting and the wider Green Skills area. To grow capacity and delivery output targets in line with these recommendations, DFHERIS is developing and delivering a number of strategies that will increase skills supply through the current network of skills provision available across the tertiary education system. Important steps towards delivering on this target are the increased numbers enrolling on Near Zero Energy Building (NZEB) courses and the establishment of a dedicated Construction and Green Skills Programme Office within SOLAS last year. This office works with ETBs nationally and is focused on developing programmes and initiatives to drive forward this reform agenda with a particular focus on the construction sector.

The SOLAS Green Skills for FET Roadmap 2021-2030 was launched in March 2022 incorporating the National Recovery and Resilience Plan and the Green Skills Action Programme, which began in 2021. The National Recovery and Resilience Plan commits to expanding NZEB and Retrofit upskilling and reskilling programmes and includes the provision of 4,550 retrofit and NZEB places.

Education and training relevant to the skills needed in the retrofitting and construction sector are delivered through more than fifty programmes running in the four established NZEB Centres of Excellence operated by Waterford and Wexford Education and Training Board (WWETB), Laois and Offaly Education and Training Board (LOETB), Limerick Clare Education and Training Board (LCETB) and Cork Education and Training Board (CETB). CETB’s Centre of Excellence is the most recent addition to this network, and I officially opened this Centre on 22^ndMay this year. Two further Centres of Excellence are also due to be established in Mayo-Sligo-Leitrim ETB (MSLETB) and City of Dublin ETB (CDETB), with courses currently delivered in MSLETB in advance of this opening. Courses are also delivered by Tipperary ETB.

Following progress in developing this national network of Centres of Excellence in retrofit skills training, including NZEB skills, the number of workers availing of these opportunities has increased steadily since the first centre was opened in 2020. Numbers have risen from 363 to 793 enrolments in 2021 and to a record 2,034 enrolments in 2022. This reflects an increase of 118% between 2020 and 2021 and 156% between 2021 and 2022. There have been 1,569 enrolments between January and the end of June 2023. Please see the table below for further detail.

The courses are free, fast and flexible with weekend and evening provision available. In many cases, where a person has an existing construction-related qualification, knowledge or experience, they can learn these skills quickly, usually within three-four days. Courses for beginners are also available.

The National Construction Training Campus in Mount Lucas also provide a 1 day tailored introductory programme for Transition Year and Leaving Cert students to give them a better understanding of NZEB principles while using a mixture of practical skills and theory.