AQW 19136/22-27

Ms Kellie Armstrong
Alliance Party
Strangford

Tabled Date: 02/12/2024
Answered On Date: 10/12/2024
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister for the Economy to detail the actions his Department is taking to address the shortage of skills in construction, specifically skills related to retrofitting and passive house type new builds.

Answer:

My Department, in collaboration with the Green Skills Delivery Group, will launch the Green Skills Action Plan in early 2025. This plan will seek to address the skills shortages required to reduce our carbon emissions.

Domestic low carbon technologies and energy efficiency has been identified as a priority area within the Plan and work has already commenced to develop new retrofitting courses.

Courses in this area are available to SME's through the Department's Skills Focus programme. I would encourage employers, within the construction sector, to engage with their local FE college to avail of these opportunities.

In addition, several free retrofitting courses, including passive house, are already available through the Skill Up programme.

CITBNI, an NDPB of the Department, is also active in this space and has delivered training courses, awareness sessions and business improvement events in energy efficiency and the wider green skills area.

The construction sector will play a significant role in the reduction of carbon emissions and my Department, through its range of programmes will continue to address the skills need of this important sector.