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Irish Times
02-07-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Apprenticeship pay a big problem for hitting construction targets, Ictu congress told
Sub-minimum wage rates for apprentices in the first years of their training continues to deter recruits to trades vital to the delivery of housing and infrastructure critical to the future economic prosperity of the country, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Ictu) biennial conference in Belfast heard on Wednesday. The conference backed a motion from the Connect trade union calling for the application of the National Minimum Wage to all apprentices. The union's Stephen Murphy said the average age of first year apprentices in building trades had steadily increased over the years and many now had significant financial obligations. Many were struggling, he said, while many more prospective apprentices couldn't afford to pursue their chosen career because they faced the prospect of earning about €7 an hour, or in some case less, under the terms of current regulations. According to research previously carried out by the union and CSO figures, the average age for starting an apprenticeship in the construction industry is 21, 13 per cent of those doing the apprenticeships have at least one child, 46 per cent are renting and 5 per cent will have a mortgage. READ MORE New pay rates for apprentices due to come into effect at the end of this month, start at €7.66 per hour, and it is year three of an apprenticeship before pay exceeds the current National Minimum Wage of €13.50 per hour. 'This is a huge challenge for the country,' said Connect general secretary Paddy Kavanagh. 'There's 80,000 skilled workers required to meet the current demands in housing, 80,000 new workers skilled, craft workers to to meet requirements in housing and infrastructure projects. 'How are we going to get them? It's not a question of bringing them in from other jurisdictions, because the apprenticeship standards don't match, so we have to train them in Ireland. The only way to do that is to make it attractive for people to become apprentices.' Mr Kavanagh said many employers in the sector agree pay rates should start with the National Minimum Wage as a baseline but say legislation is required as they would put themselves at a competitive disadvantage if they were to apply them unilaterally. The conference also backed a motion from Connect that called for the €600 figure on which statutory redundancy is calculated to be brought up to €1,015 in order to align it with average weekly wages. The union said Micheál Martin had overseen the introduction of the process and setting of the €600 figure as minister for enterprise 21 years ago when the understanding had been it would be regularly updated but this had never happened. It is time to do that, said Connect's Brian Nolan. Mick Nerney of the Financial Services Union said those facing redundancy need 'fairness and protection at a time they are struggling' while Siptu's Neil McGowan said thousands of private sector workers are set to be displaced by AI and the stature redundancy regulations would contribute to the financial hardship they would endure as a result. 'It is,' he said, 'a pressing issue for the union movement'. The conference also backed a move to establish a working group at the operation of the Workplace Relations Commission code on the right to request remote working. The code, which came into effect last year, and is due to be reviewed in 2026, does not require employers to grant remote or hybrid working but regulates how requests have to be considered. It has been repeatedly criticised by unions and those who had requests rejected as a box ticking exercise for employers. 'It is clear the legislation doesn't favour workers,' said Carol Scheffer of the Communication Workers Union. 'We need to look for a better code of practice.'
Irish Independent
24-06-2025
- Irish Independent
‘You can't shame them, they have no shame' – CCTV cameras in Wexford unlikely to deter illegal dumpers
The effectiveness of this system was questioned by Councillor Paddy Kavanagh at the June meeting of the Gorey Kilmuckridge Municipal District (GKMD). 'We might as well put up Big Ben and start ringing it to tell people there's a camera in the area,' he noted. Environmental engineer Enda Brennan explained that, under the 2018 Data Protection Act, you had to follow certain procedures when placing CCTV cameras in public. 'It'll be like the speed vans, you put up two signs informing people there are cameras in this location,' he said. 'This is favouring the person breaking the rules and regulations, we might as well not do anything,' replied Cllr Kavanagh. 'They'll just move elsewhere. We're making life easy for them.' He received the support of Cllr Darragh McDonald who urged Mr Brennan to 'name and shame' anyone found guilty of illegal dumping. 'Those names should be published. Is it legal for us to name them?' he asked. 'We know if there's a reporter in the court they can publish it in the paper, but we surely have a list of successful prosecutions? Can we have a record of this on the council website? So that it's there for everyone to see. 'This is an epidemic, people are dumping everywhere.' Cllr Mary Farrell answered the question on Mr Brennan's behalf. 'We were told previously that the only person who can report on fines issued in court is the court reporter. But if people are out there destroying our countryside we should be able to name and shame them,' she said. While naming offenders was one thing, Cllr Anthony Donohue said shaming them would be a far greater challenge. 'You can't shame them because they don't have any shame,' he said. All the councillors were having issues with the protocols and procedures involved in erecting these cameras. 'There are cameras up on buildings in every town and village in the county,' said Cllr Oliver Walsh. 'There's nothing being done about them, but we can't put up a camera to record someone dumping.' 'Can dashcam footage be used to prosecute fly-tipping if you happen to come across someone doing it?' asked Cllr Pip Breen. Again, Cllr Farrell provided the answer. 'You have to be prepared to go to court and that's what's stopping people, they don't want to appear,' she said. Prior to becoming district manager of the GKMD, Philip Knight had worked in the council's environmental section and he said everything changed in the wake of the enactment of the Data Protection Act. 'We had been using CCTV and it had been very successful when I was in the environment section (prior to 2018) and we were taking a lot of cases to court based on CCTV evidence,' he said. 'Provision is going to be given to us to use mobile CCTV units rather than fixed, but if someone is determined to dump waste they will find somewhere to do it. "It's very frustrating, when we started sending crews to go through the rubbish in 14 per cent of the cases they found something which could be used in court, that has now dropped to less than one per cent.' All of those present had been sent images of illegal dumping during their time as elected representatives, however, it was down to the council staff to respond to those reports; an unenviable task by all accounts. 'I wouldn't like their job to have to pick it up, to go through it trying to find a name,' said Cllr Kavanagh, 'it's stomach churning even having to go near it.' Willing to get the ball rolling on identifying potential criminals, Cllr McDonald said houses 'without bins' were arguably the best place to start. Funded by the Local Democracy Scheme
Irish Independent
21-06-2025
- Business
- Irish Independent
New Wexford solar hub will lower emissions but ‘discommode' communities – ‘We better get that €250,000'
When complete in Spring 2027, the Wexford Hub Solar Farm will, according to the ESB, generate enough electricity to power approximately 25,000 homes, farms and businesses. The farm will comprise of sites in Growtown, Youngstown, Dennistown and Mayglass with all sites connected back to a new substation located at Dennistown via two new 33kV underground cables. A third underground cable will connect the project from the new Dennistown substation to the existing Wexford 110kV station at Barntown. The sites will consist of rows of southernly faced solar panels mounted on a galvanised metal framework. 'The development of a solar farm on the proposed sites will not have any significant visual impact on roads, settlements or on any area of special amenity value,' said the ESB. 'Due to the relatively low height of the solar arrays, combined with the flat low-lying character of the site and existing field boundaries, views of the proposed development are restricted.' The construction of the three underground cable routes for the project will also commence in summer 2025. These works will consist of the installation of ducting predominantly in public roads prior to the installation of the electrical cables. In total there will be c. 25km of ducting across the three cable routes. The first cable route will be from Growtown to Dennistown via Youngstown. The second route will be from Mayglass to Dennistown, and third route will be from Dennistown to the existing 110kV Substation at Barntown. Localised traffic management and road closures will be required to facilitate these underground cable works which will be agreed in advance with WCC. Following his presentation, Mr Moroney faced a variety of questions from councillors, the majority focusing on compensation for those likely to be 'discommoded' by the works in their area. However, the first query concerned the acquisition of potentially fertile agricultural land. 'As a farmer I have a problem with all the prime land you're taking to put solar panels on it,' noted Councillor Paddy Kavanagh. 'There are plenty of other options available, have you considered putting them on big industrial buildings?' 'There's enough farmers reaching retirement age now that it kind of suits them (to sell the land) there's an appetite for this judging by the amount of applications we receive,' replied Mr Moroney. 'There are landowners keen to get involved, they are situated relatively near to the substation. The land is a mix or arable land and non-arable land.' Although the local community will have the opportunity to avail of an annual funding pot of up to €250,000, Cllr Kavanagh said this offer sounded a 'bit like Greek's bearing gifts'. Cllr Ger Carthy then asked, with four sites being constructed, whether this funding would be quadrupled accordingly or whether it was one individual pot. ADVERTISEMENT 'That's a nice move by the ESB if it's the former,' he said. 'This is an organisation which has a billion euro in pre-tax profits. And it comes down to Co Wexford with four big schemes and €250,000.' Providing some clarity, Mr Moroney said the €250,000 was an approximation of the likely fund and that the amount of money distributed would be dependent on the electricity generated. With the Dennistown site just a couple of kilometres from her homeplace in Murrintown, Cllr Lisa McDonald then issued a warning to Mr Moroney. 'I represent the people of Murrintown and I'm telling you now, we better get that €250,000, because our roads are going to be dug up,' she said. 'People are going to be discommoded, and they need to be recompensed. it's completely unfair.' With the community benefit fund set to run for 15 years, providing up to €4m for community organisations in Co Wexford, Mr Moroney said past experiences had shown that those 'closest to the farms' tended to apply for the money. 'You will find that those in the area will receive a lot of the funding, and we really do appreciate the cooperation of the people of Wexford,' he said. 'We do not take it for granted that we can dig up the roads, not for one moment. We know people would sooner not see us coming to their area, but we do everything for the long-term benefit.' The Wexford Hub Solar Farm project will have a Community Benefit Fund which will distribute grants to organisations in the local area once the solar farm is operational. The fund for Wexford Hub Solar Farm will not be operational until the project energises in 2027. Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.
