€3.2m funding announced for apprenticeships at MTU Cork

A CORK TD has welcomed €3.2m in funding for Munster Technological University Cork (MTU Cork) to respond to the growing demand for apprenticeships in the higher education sector.

Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science Simon Harris TD and Minister of State for Skills and Further Education announced €17 million in capital funding to respond to the growing demand for apprenticeships in the higher education sector.

An overall package of €17m will be dispersed across four Technological Universities and one Institute of Technology, including MTU Cork, to deliver an additional 132 apprenticeship craft training blocks.

This additional capacity is required to meet the increase in apprentice registrations as indicated by SOLAS in a number of trades.

Minister Harris explained that the funding will support the expansion of registrations across numerous crafts including electrical, electronic security systems, pipefitting, plumbing, metal fabrication and refrigeration and air conditioning and respond to a growing demand for learning through apprenticeship.

MTU Cork will see six new blocks in plumbing, three in pipefitting, three in metal FAB and six in electrical.

Welcoming this funding, Fianna Fáil TD Pádraig O’Sullivan said: “Today’s announcement of €3.2m will fund the delivery of 18 apprenticeship training blocks in MTU Cork.

“I am really pleased to see this investment being made across our TUs and especially in MTU Cork. It will help us grow our infrastructure and meet the demands of our growing apprenticeship population.”