Barriers being faced by those seeking apprenticeships in Sligo, meeting told

By Philip Rooney, The Sligo Champion

Sligo County Council have been urged to write to Minister for Higher Education James Lawless and Minister for State Minister Marian Harkin in relation to the lack of apprenticeship availabilities for young people in the locality.

In her motion before the October meeting of Sligo County Council, Cllr Edel McSharry sought for correspondence to be made with government ministers to “Address barriers facing young people in Sligo and surrounding region in seeking craft-trade apprenticeships such as plumbing, carpentry, electrical and plastering.”

Cllr McSharry pointed to the "Insufficient local training capacity, difficulties for small firms to serve as sponsoring employers, long delays to the off-the-job training blocks, overcapacity in access routes such as PLCs and lack of trade-by-trade apprenticeship metrics.”

Addressing the Council Chamber, Cllr McSharry said, “When they (students) come out, they have to source their own employer. Without someone co-ordinating, the system is too opaque and unfair. If we made it more attractive to firms we could dramatically increase the uptake.”

Supporting the motion, Cllr Paul Taylor said, “I haven’t seen people looking for summer jobs in construction in years. We need to make it as easy as possible for people who want to get involved in this way of life. It has to be made a lot easier for the company or employer to make apprenticeships available.”

Cllr Ann Higgins noted, “At ATU we have strong growth in the drive for apprenticeships."

Cllr Tom McSharry added, “We need tradespeople ready to build houses.”