- 2022Implementation
- 2023Implementation
- 2024Completed
Background
The National Strategy for Further Education and Training (FET) 2020-24 pointed out the importance of green skills in FET and called for increasing FET capability for energy, construction and the environment. It also noted that curricula across all relevant FET programmes, including apprenticeships, should be updated to embed the sustainable development focus. It emphasised that all FET provision should develop critical climate change and environmental knowledge and FET campuses should be based on a strong sustainability ethos.
In 2021, SOLAS (the national authority for FET) established the Construction and Green Skills Programme Office.
Currently, 16 Education and Training Boards (statutory FET providers - ETBs) deliver around 50 programmes with a focus on green skills.
Objectives
The policy roadmap set three main objectives.
- Green skills for life: creating awareness of climate justice, sustainability and bioeconomic issues across VET learners and staff.
- Green skills for construction: training and upskilling individuals in construction occupations in the latest green technologies.
- Green skills for careers: creating career opportunities in the green economy for the employed, unemployed and those in vulnerable sectors.
Description
The policy roadmap 'Green Skills for FET 2021-30' sets a strategic direction for green skills initiatives throughout the Irish FET sector and points to key areas for the FET Sector in the transition to a green economy. The policy incorporates the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP), the Green skills action plan and responds to some other national policies and legislation, e.g. Skills for zero carbon (2021), Future Jobs Ireland (2019) and the Action plan for apprenticeships 2021-25. It also responds to the mandate set out on the EU directives, the European Green Deal (2019) and the Osnabrück Declaration on vocation education and training (2020).
The policy roadmap 'Green skills for FET 2021-30' was launched at the Green Skills Summit that took place in March 2022.
The Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, FET sector leaders, managers, teachers, trainers and instructors, representatives from higher education, industry, employers, and employer groups took part. During the summit, the SOLAS Skills and Labour Market Research Unit presented an overview of national and international green skills research; industry leaders outlined future skill needs for green and sustainable business environment. The participants also discussed how FET can best meet the skill needs and support the green transition. Also the first ever cohort of FET teaching and instructing staff were presented with their qualification for training in Net Zero Energy Building (NZEB) standards.
Following the launch of the policy roadmap, some actions took place in 2022.
Increasing capacity to deliver courses in NZEB and retrofitting
In addition to the existing ones, the Limerick Clare ETB opened a new centre of excellence for FET training in NZEB and retrofitting skills. It is to offer training to approximately 1 500 learners annually. The number of workers benefitting from such training has increased, from 793 enrolments in 2021 to a record of 2 034 enrolments in 2022. These are learners looking for employment or employees looking to upskill.
New qualifications and FET courses
In 2022, eCollege, the national online learning service for the VET sector, launched a new online bite-sized course in energy reduction in the home or workplace. The course was developed in partnership with the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI). The course is free and open to all VET learners aged over 18 who have a Personal Public Service Number (PPSN).
Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI) approved two new green skills micro qualifications on Ireland's National qualification's framework (NQF): Level 4 Environmental sustainability awareness at Level 4 and Environmental sustainability at Level 5.
In April 2023: The Chief Executive of SOLAS (the National Agency for the funding, planning and co-ordination of Further Education and Training - FET) outlined in a statement to the Joint Committee on Education, Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science of the Irish Parliament (Oireachtas) the commitment of the Further Education and Training Sector (FET) in relation to Green Skills, indicating the that every FET course and every FET learner will have access to a module on sustainability awareness, with Level 4 and 5 micro qualifications and online open access eCollege course rolled out to facilitate this.
In May 2023, the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research Innovation and Science officially opened the new Near Zero Energy Building (NZEB) and Retrofitting Centre of Excellence in Cork Education and Training Board (CETB). The Centre will offer training to approximately 1,500 learners annually. Training will consist of NZEB Electrical, Plastering, Plumbing, Bricklaying, and Carpentry, Retrofit Skills and External Wall Insulation (EWI) complemented by training in NZEB fundamentals, Air Tightness, Ventilation and Insulation. This will be further enhanced via upskilling courses in Solar and Heat Pump Technologies. The 1,000 square metre training facility will provide skills training for individuals who are unemployed and for individuals currently working in construction wishing to upskill. The centre will contribute significantly to national policy priorities on Housing for All including housing construction, retrofitting of homes, and carbon reduction. This is in line with the Government target of retrofitting 500 000 homes in Ireland by 2030.
In August 2023 City of Dublin ETB launched its Centre of Excellence in Retrofit Skills training/NZEB. This additional provision includes NZEB Fundamental Awareness, NZEB Retrofit, NZEB Ventilation, NZEB Site Supervisor, and Retrofit Insulation Skills.
Also in August 2023, the Minister for DFHERIS announced an important milestone for NZEB and training in retrofit with a new Mobile NZEB Training Unit. The mobile unit will travel to construction sites and schools across the country to allow people participate in a training course, wherever they are. The Unit is powered by solar PV panels and includes a working heat pump and ventilation system, making it entirely self-sufficient and showcasing excellent technologies. The unit will also promote future careers in construction, introducing learners in upper secondary education to the Modern Methods of Construction (MMC).
In November 2023, the Minister for the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (DFHERIS) announced the development of a national centre for electric vehicle skills. The centre will be based in Mullingar, in the centre of the county. When fully developed, the centre will train people to repair and maintain not only electric cars, but also electric bikes, scooters, trucks, buses, vans and heavy goods vehicles. The centre will allow the Further Education Training (FET) sector to remain a leader in the delivery of motor mechanic skills.
This action is now completed - superseded by the First National Further Education & Training (FET) Strategy for the Green Transition: Green Skills 2030 (PD 48773).
Bodies responsible
- Further Education and Training Authority (SOLAS)
- Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (DFHERIS)
- Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications
- Education and Training Boards Ireland (ETBI)
- Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI)
- City of Dublin Education and Training Board (CDETB)
- Cavan Monaghan Education and Training Board (CMETB)
- Cork Education and Training Board (CETB)
- Dublin Dun Laoghaire Education and Training Board (DDLETB)
- Donegal Education and Training Board (DETB)
- Kildare Wicklow Education and Training Board (KWETB)
- Kilkenny Carlow Education and Training Board (KCETB)
- Laois Offaly Education and Training Board (LOETB)
- Longford Westmeath Education and Training Board (LWETB)
- Galway Roscommon Education and Training Board (GRETB)
- Mayo Sligo and Leitrim Education and Training Board (MSLETB)
- Kerry Education and Training Board (KETB)
- Limerick Clare Education and Training Board (LCETB)
- Tipperary Education and Training Board (TETB)
- Waterford Wexford Education and Training Board (WWETB)
Target groups
Learners
- Young people (15-29 years old)
- Adult learners
- Unemployed and jobseekers
- Persons in employment, including those at risk of unemployment
Education professionals
- Teachers
- Trainers
Entities providing VET
- Companies
- VET providers (all kinds)
Thematic categories
Governance of VET and lifelong learning
This thematic category looks at existing legal frameworks providing for strategic, operational – including quality assurance – and financing arrangements for VET and lifelong learning (LLL). It examines how VET and LLL-related policies are placed in broad national socioeconomic contexts and coordinate with other strategies and policies, such as economic, social and employment, growth and innovation, recovery and resilience.
This thematic category covers partnerships and collaboration networks of VET stakeholders – especially the social partners – to shape and implement VET in a country, including looking at how their roles and responsibilities for VET at national, regional and local levels are shared and distributed, ensuring an appropriate degree of autonomy for VET providers to adapt their offer.
The thematic category also includes efforts to create national, regional and sectoral skills intelligence systems (skills anticipation and graduate tracking) and using skills intelligence for making decisions about VET and LLL on quality, inclusiveness and flexibility.
This thematic sub-category refers to the integration of VET into economic, industrial, innovation, social and employment strategies, including those linked to recovery, green and digital transitions, and where VET is seen as a driver for innovation and growth. It includes national, regional, sectoral strategic documents or initiatives that make VET an integral part of broader policies, or applying a mix of policies to address an issue VET is part of, e.g. in addressing youth unemployment measures through VET, social and active labour market policies that are implemented in combination. National skill strategies aiming at quality and inclusive lifelong learning also fall into this sub-category.
Modernising VET offer and delivery
This thematic category looks at what and how individuals learn, how learning content and learning outcomes in initial and continuing VET are defined, adapted and updated. First and foremost, it examines how VET standards, curricula, programmes and training courses are updated and modernised or new ones created. Updated and renewed VET content ensures that learners acquire a balanced mix of competences that address modern demands, and are more closely aligned with the realities of the labour market, including key competences, digital competences and skills for green transition and sustainability, both sector-specific and across sectors. Using learning outcomes as a basis is important to facilitate this modernisation, including modularisation of VET programmes. Updating and developing teaching and learning materials to support the above is also part of the category.
The thematic category continues to focus on strengthening high-quality and inclusive apprenticeships and work-based learning in real-life work environments and in line with the European framework for quality and effective apprenticeships. It looks at expanding apprenticeship to continuing vocational training and at developing VET programmes at EQF levels 5-8 for better permeability and lifelong learning and to support the need for higher vocational skills.
This thematic category also focuses on VET delivery through a mix of open, digital and participative learning environments, including workplaces conducive to learning, which are flexible, more adaptable to the ways individuals learn, and provide more access and outreach to various groups of learners, diversifying modes of learning and exploiting the potential of digital learning solutions and blended learning to complement face-to-face learning.
Centres of vocational excellence that connect VET to innovation and skill ecosystems and facilitate stronger cooperation with business and research also fall into this category.
Green transition and environmental sustainability have a significant place in the EU agenda (Green Deal), including the agenda for VET. This thematic sub-category refers to identifying in cooperation with industry, incorporating into VET curricula and programmes and teaching the skills related and needed for the green transition, including sector- and occupation-specific skills and those across sectors. It covers measures aimed at ‘greening’ VET programmes, including awareness and knowledge about climate change, green technologies and innovation, energy efficiency, circular economy and environmental sustainability. It also includes the use of appropriate learning methods that develop such awareness.
Supporting lifelong learning culture and increasing participation
Lifelong learning refers to all learning (formal, non-formal or informal) taking place at all stages in life and resulting in an improvement or update in knowledge, skills, competences and attitudes or in participation in society from a personal, civic, cultural, social or employment-related perspective (Erasmus+, Glossary of terms, https://erasmus-plus.ec.europa.eu/programme-guide/part-d/glossary-common-terms). A systemic approach to CVET is crucial to ensure adaptability to evolving demands.
This broad thematic category looks at ways of creating opportunities and ensuring access to re-skilling and upskilling pathways, allowing individuals to progress smoothly in their learning throughout their lives with better permeability between general and vocational education and training, and better integration and compatibility between initial and continuing VET and with higher education. Individuals should be supported in acquiring and updating their skills and competences and navigating easily through education and training systems. Strategies and campaigns that promote VET and LLL as an attractive and high-quality pathway, providing quality lifelong guidance and tailored support to design learning and career paths, and various incentives (financial and non-financial) to attract and support participation in VET and LLL fall into this thematic category as well.
This thematic category also includes many initiatives on making VET inclusive and ensuring equal education and training opportunities for various groups of learners, regardless of their personal and economic background and place of residence – especially those at risk of disadvantage or exclusion, such as persons with disabilities, the low-skilled and low-qualified, minorities, migrants, refugees and others.
This thematic sub-category refers to providing the possibility for individuals who are already in the labour market/in employment to reskill and/or acquire higher levels of skills, and to ensuring targeted information resources on the benefits of CVET and lifelong learning. It also covers the availability of CVET programmes adaptable to labour market, sectoral or individual up- and reskilling needs. The sub-category includes working with respective stakeholders to develop digital learning solutions supporting access to CVET opportunities and awarding CVET credentials and certificates.
Subsystem
Further reading
Country
Type of development
Cedefop, & ReferNet. (2025). Green Skills for Further Education and Training (FET) Roadmap 2021-2030: Ireland. In Cedefop, & ReferNet. (2025). Timeline of VET policies in Europe (2024 update) [Online tool].
https://www.cedefop.europa.eu/en/tools/timeline-vet-policies-europe/search/45129