Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 1 December 2022
98. Deputy Steven Matthews asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the position regarding an engagement that he has had with the offshore renewable sector; if he is conscious of the need to ensure a steady pipeline of qualified graduates for this sector; if he will consider establishing a training centre of excellence in a college (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59452/22]
View answerAs the Deputy will be aware, the Government is committed to the achievement of ambitious targets for offshore wind generation capacity by 2030.
In that context, my Department is participating on a cross-Departmental Offshore Wind Delivery Taskforce established under the Department of Energy, Climate and Communications to drive delivery and capture wider and longer term economic and business opportunities associated with the development of offshore renewables in Ireland. This encompasses the workforce and skills requirements to underpin the development of Ireland’s offshore wind industry.
It is important that projected workforce requirements are informed by the expertise of the relevant sectoral, Departmental and industry experts, with my Department contributing based upon its responsibility to align the future output at third level education with such current and emerging workforce plans.
Important skills and workforce responses are already in place to meet the needs of the off-shore wind sector. These include, for example, the Green Tech Skillnet, promoted by Wind Energy Ireland, the representative body for the Irish wind industry. The Skillnet delivers training to support the optimisation of renewables on the Irish grid in the short, medium, and long term through upskilling and management development in wind, solar and hydrogen technologies, from planning, construction, and maintenance training as well as business supports in human resources, marketing and finance. Training supports are also being rolled out on the recently adopted Maritime Area Planning Act, 2021.
Skillnet Ireland - a Government of Ireland agency funded by my Department - invested over €1m in grant funding to Green Tech Skillnet during 2020 and 2021.
I understand that no proposal has been received by my Department relating to the college referenced in the Deputy's question, but it is clear that the success of the Government's plans for the development of off-shore wind energy in Ireland will require the mobilisation of the whole of the network of technological universities (including the South East Technological University), institutes of technology, and further education and training providers.
