Significant ESB announcement further indication of growing economy – Coffey

Fine Gael Minister for Housing, Planning and Construction 2020 Paudie Coffey TD has said today’s announcement by the ESB that they will take on 60 apprentices every year for the next 5 years is a clear indication that they are gearing up for the medium term as the economy continues to expand.

“The ESB is where I trained as an apprentice and I worked as an electrician working in the Cables and Stations section of ESB on the electricity distribution and supply network and for seven years I was part of the planning, design and project management team dealing with electricity distribution system in the South East region.

“Today’s announcement is significant for the construction sector as it will help in meeting the demand of an expanding sector over the next number of years. These apprenticeships will be spread across the country and therefore will be a benefit for all of the regions in the State.

“The ESB is a world class utility creating training opportunities and jobs for young people all over the country. We need to prepare for a growing construction sector again and therefore I would encourage that secondary school students consider the trades and construction related careers again and I know Minister Damien English is very focussed on the delivery training programmes for this area of the economy.

“We will never be going back to the boom and bust cycle; but the construction sector is a key part of any functioning economy and there is significant scope for jobs to added in a sustainable way in construction.”

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