Background information

In the twenty-month period from January 2022 to end of August 2023, over 4,000 people were trained in the area of retrofitting, as part of a Government aim to retrofit 500,000 homes by 2030. According to the National Retrofit Plan: “There has been substantial progress on delivering an infrastructure for upskilling existing craftspeople as well as other interested learners. Near Zero Energy Building (NZEB) and retrofit training is being delivered across two specialist centres, with three further centres of excellence in development.” The National Retrofit Plan sets out how the government will deliver on our retrofit targets. The Plan is designed to address barriers to retrofit across four key pillars: driving demand and activity; financing and funding; supply chain, skills and standards; and governance.

Content of measure

The Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science announced there was a record number of participants in retrofitting upskilling and reskilling programmes in 2023. Up to the end of August 2023, there were 2,056 people who had enrolled in retrofit courses compared to a total of 2,034 enrolments for the full year of 2022. There was also an increase in the number of women taking part in these courses in 2023. The upskilling training takes place in further and higher education facilities across the country. The majority of courses are free, with weekend and evening provision available. According to the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science: 'In many cases, where a person has an existing construction-related qualification, knowledge or experience, they can learn these skills quickly, usually within three-four days.'

Use of measure

The number of people enrolled in these courses is as follows: 793 enrolments in 2021 2,034 enrolments in 2022 a record 2,056 in September 2023

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Applies to all workers	Sector specific set of companies	Does not apply to citizens

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
National government Other social actors (e.g. NGOs)	National funds

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	No involvement	No involvement
Form	Not applicable	Not applicable

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

• No involvement
• Main level of involvement: N/A

Involvement

No involvement

Views and reactions

N/A

Sectors and occupations

Sources

• 08 February 2022: National Retrofit Plan (www.gov.ie)
• 24 September 2023: Minister Harris welcomes participation in retrofit upskilling programmes with a boost in the number of females training (www.gov.ie)