Construction firm Ballymore has launched a scheme to support young apprentices in craft trades with an initial €500,000 provided for a pilot project in company founder Sean Mulryan’s home county of Roscommon.
The scheme, announced on Friday afternoon, is to support apprentices, living, working or educated in the county with payments of between €2,000 and €3,000 intended to supplement wages, which generally start at subnational – lower than national minimum wage rates.
The trades involved include plumbing, carpentry and plastering, but higher levels of funding will be available to those pursuing apprenticeships in less popular areas such as brick and stone laying, or scaffolding.
Funded by Ballymore Group, the project will be administered by Galway and Roscommon Education and Training Board.
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The company says the scheme is a pilot and the first of several projects related to the promotion of the skills required in the construction sector it will be announcing.
Launching the fund at the school he attended, Roscommon Community College, Mulryan said there is an urgent need for Ireland to find the number of skilled workers required for a wave of big infrastructure projects.
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“Ireland needs to drive up the rate of infrastructure delivery massively over the next five years – houses, rail links, water, energy and road systems,” he said.
“And we need to ramp up the range of construction skills across the labour force to meet the pent-up demand for all kinds of public and private infrastructure.
“University education isn’t the right road for every school-leaver, and parents should encourage young people to consider avenues that may be more rewarding for them. Apprenticeships can be a pathway to running your own business or to exciting, well-paid careers.”
Minister for Further and Higher Education James Lawless welcomed the move and said he hoped the establishment of the fund would lead to a significant increase in the number of people taking up trades in the region.
