Electric.ie May/June 2021

ELECTRIC.IE • The Magazine & Website for the Irish Electrical Industry • 21 Industry News Government plans to boost social housing delivery The plan includes: •A voids programme which will target almost 3,000 vacant properties to be remediated for re-letting this year •An increased focus on Buy and Renew construction with a particular emphasis on rundown vacant properties that local authorities can repurpose as social housing units •A programme of targeted acquisitions by local authorities •Evaluation of local authority resources ർ The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh O’Brien TD, has announced plans to support the delivery of social housing stock following a 14 week construction sector shut-down. Minister O’Brien welcomed the recent resumption of residential construction saying “the COVID-19 restrictions introduced by Government at the start of the year were necessary to curtail the movement of people and to protect public health. With the exception of limited social housing sites, residential construction has been stopped for three months and there will be a significant impact on output, with many projects delayed until 2022. “In the short term, we need to ensure that all existing local authority stock is available to allocate to households on the social housing waiting lists, including households in homeless emergency accommodation. For this reason, I am providing funding to local authorities for the remediation of approximately 3,000 vacant social housing units this year. “I also want to ensure that local authorities can quickly increase their stock and meet priority housing needs. I am providing increased flexibility for local authorities to undertake a programme of targeted acquisitions, primarily focused on one and four-bedroom units, which are in short supply, and specific properties for those with a disabilities." A Fast Track to an Engineering Degree for Qualified Electricians C ompanies are crying out for trade qualified engineers throughout Ireland. The Limerick Institute of Technology and TUD in Dublin are offering a degree level apprenticeship designed to upskill qualified electricians to enable them to qualify as Electrical Engineers in just two years while working. Vincent Cunnane, the president of LIT says "We want to see people learning when earning. This is a model which we believe will succeed and one that can be applied in other sectors. This apprenticeship is at the forefront of how learning is changing in Ireland" To learn more about the apprenticeship programme in either LIT or TUD Limerick Institute of Technology (Coordinating Provider) Website: apprenticeship.lit.ie For further information - Seán Conway, Section Head New Generation Apprenticeships, Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Limerick Institute of Technology, Moylish Park, Co Limerick. Email: Sean.Conway@lit.ie Mobile: +353 (085)7302842 Phone: 061-293318-Office: 3B07 Technological University Dublin (Tallaght Campus) For further information – course specific. Mr. James Kearney, Technological University Dublin - Tallaght. Email: James.Kearney@tudublin.ie Mobile: 0876148378 For queries on the application process please contact LLL@tudublin.ie or Phone 01-4042101