Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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837. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will consider exploring the feasibility of establishing a wind turbine trade school in the northwest to boost apprenticeships and employment in the green energy industry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15207/25]

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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Green Skills which include the skills necessary for the development of Ireland’s renewable energy sector are crucial for achieving the ambitious climate targets outlined in the Government's Climate Action Plan and for facilitating the green transition.

My Department has been working with the tertiary sector to develop the green skills required to achieve these goals, ensuring the future workforce is equipped with the skills required to support the green transition – from developing transferable green skills for life to specific requirements for emerging green sectors including those necessary for the development of the renewable energy sector.

My Department, SOLAS and other stakeholders in the FET sector are working to address the emerging requirements associated with this goal. This includes ensuring apprenticeship programmes are in place to equip participants with skills that are essential to supporting Ireland’s growing renewable energy sector.

With specific focus on the growth of the wind energy sector, the wind turbine maintenance technician apprenticeship, provided by Kerry Education and Training Board was launched in 2022 with 14 apprentices. This three-year programme was designed to meet the needs of the growing renewable and sustainable energy sector. On completion of the programme, apprentices are awarded a Level 6 Advanced Certificate in Industrial Wind Turbine Engineering.

In addition, my Department is supporting a broad range of initiatives to enable us to meet the workforce challenges and skills needs associated with the development of renewable energy.

A cross-Departmental Offshore Wind Delivery Taskforce is driving delivery and working to capture the economic and business opportunities associated with the development of offshore renewables. It includes skills and workforce responses, with my Department leading, in collaboration with the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications, on a dedicated Skills and Workforce Workstream.

The main goal of the workstream is to identify the skills and workforce requirements for the development of offshore wind and establish a sustainable workforce and skills pipeline. A key output of this workstream was the publication of the Offshore Wind Skills Action Plan by my Department in October 2024.

This Skills Action Plan addresses identified skills shortages in 33 roles required for the development of offshore wind some of which are transferable with onshore wind development and provides recommendations on how to address these gaps. The plan is designed to guide future activities in the Further and Higher Education sectors for offshore wind in Ireland.

Further to this, a wide range of short, targeted, and industry-aligned upskilling and reskilling programmes for the renewable energy sector are offered by Green Tech Skillnet including a suite of microcredentials through the newly established Skillnet Offshore Wind Academy.

Complementing provision in the Further and Higher Education sectors, Skillnet Ireland plays a key role in supplying skills to the Irish workforce by collaborating with enterprise and agencies to develop new innovative programmes that address both current and future skill needs.

The Green Tech Skillnet, co-funded by this Department, through Skillnet Ireland, and industry, was established in 2014 to support the workforce development needs of businesses within Ireland’s renewable energy sector. It offers a wide range of short, targeted, and industry-aligned upskilling and reskilling programmes for the renewable energy sector including a suite of micro-credentials through the newly established Skillnet Offshore Wind Academy.

In terms of the development of new training programmes for particular sectors, this is primarily a matter for Education and Training Boards, and Higher Education Institutions, who are academically autonomous and free to design course provision in line with identified needs. However, the policy framework for renewable energy skills development, outlined above, is designed to support ETBs and HEIs in this work, and to ensure that course provision in this sector is industry-aligned and regionally appropriate.