Course set up to combat shortage of white goods repair technicians

CLONDALKIN man David Courtney is among a group enrolled in a unique training course set up to combat a national shortage of white goods repair technicians.

Courtney and his fellow students received a visit this week from Junior Minister Ossian Smyth at the FIT (Fastrack to Information Technology) training centre in Dunshaughlin, Co Meath.

It is the first Irish course of its kind in a decade and is training a new generation of repair engineers.

The training aims to reverse a countrywide shortage of white goods repair technicians, producing enough qualified experts to extend the lives of fixable electrical appliances such as washing machines, dishwashers and dryers.

The course began in November thanks to an initiative between the White Goods Association (WGA), WEEE Ireland and technical training agency FIT, supported by Louth and Meath Education and Training Board (LMETB) and the CIRCULÉIRE Innovation Fund – Ireland’s first industry-led innovation network dedicated to accelerating the circular economy.

Leo Donovan, CEO of WEEE Ireland, described the programme as “a great example of multi-stakeholder engagement working together to solve part of the e-waste challenge”.

“Qualified repair technicians are vital to ensuring more reuse, repair and refurbishment of white goods in Ireland to extend their life-cycle – in turn minimising waste and saving resources,” he said.

“It is a hugely positive course, appliances will be repaired properly, it will give us a skilled workforce into the future, it is an industry-led project and participants will learn about Ireland’s e-waste challenge, the WEEE system and Circular Economy theory.”

The 26 week course is followed by 12 weeks’ guaranteed work placement in the industry.

It is free of charge for trainees, supported by a grant from the CIRCULÉIRE Innovation Fund, a publicly funded circular economy initiative.