Two new Centres of Expertise in Craft Skills should be set up immediately in Dublin to meet the growing demand for skilled workers, particularly in the construction sector, according to a new FAS report which is highly critical of existing structures. It proposes one centre for the south city "and greater Dublin region", and one for the north side.
The confidential report, drawn up for the National Apprenticeship Advisory Committee (NAAC) of FAS, says it is necessary to look at radical new alternatives because the institutes of technology (ITs) and the Teachers' Union of Ireland have failed to respond adequately to the skill needs of the economy. It also found that apprenticeship training at ITs costs almost three times as much as similar training at FAS.
Bottlenecks in the system mean that people approaching the end of their training courses are having to wait up to two years to complete training at ITs. While those in the provinces have made some efforts to respond to demand, little progress had been made with the DIT. "Construction has become too dependent on immigrants for staff skills." In the three years ending 1999, 19,400 extra construction craftworkers were employed, it says. Of these 15,400 were inward migrants and only 4,000 were newly qualified apprentices.
"In the short term, Irish construction will continue to remain dependent on immigration to ease its craft skill shortages. But from a manpower perspective the NAAC must seek to restore a better balance between the supply of home and immigrant craftpersons, and in the medium term eliminate any excessive reliance on foreign-sourced skills."
Apprenticeship courses are divided into seven phases, alternating between "on the job" training and three phases which are classroom-based. The first of the latter is Phase II, which is provided by FAS. The other two sections, Phase IV and Phase VI are provided at institutes of technology.
The report estimates that to cope with the 1999 apprenticeship intake of 5,655 FAS will have to increase its training capacity by one-third and ITs will have to double their capacity. Already the average length of apprenticeships has increased from four years to 4.5 years because of bottlenecks. It is set to rise higher.
In providing Phase II, FAS has been "demand-responsive" and "reasonably cost-effective", the report says. "The ITs have been slower to react to demand, have a more costly and less productive teaching structure and have preferred to add permanent teaching staff and owned facilities when increasing capacities."
The average cost of training per apprentice is £1.43p per hour when provided by FAS and £4.95p per hour when provided by ITs. This is partly because Phase IV and Phase VI of the apprenticeship courses are more advanced than Phase II, but also because TUI members are paid £38,000 a year, compared to £28,000 for FAS instructors, and because IT lecturers work only a 16-hour week, compared with 35 hours in FAS.
The NAAC has proposed increasing attendances at ITs, raising pupil-teacher ratios from 16 apprentices per teacher to 20, and running an extra summer term when the DITs are closed. "The most promising initiative is the extra summer term, which could probably contribute an extra 1,500 places," the report says. "The other strategies could, at most, contribute another 500."
This would still be well below the extra 5,000 places needed to clear the backlog of apprentices in high-demand trades, such as bricklaying, wood machining, aircraft mechanics, plastering, electrical work and cabinetmaking.
The chairman of NAAC, Mr Owen Wills, who is general secretary of the Technical Engineering and Electrical Union, declined to comment on the report yesterday.
However, he said it was a matter of record that he had repeatedly raised the issue with FAS and the ITs. "Training capacity is now in crisis," he said. "Unless the institutes of technology can deliver the training required we will have to look at alternatives."