Calls for ‘student-type' accommodation for apprentices in Tipperary to encourage young people into trades

Councillors at the June meeting of Tipperary County Council were briefed by Brian Beck, Director of Services for Economic, Community Rural Development and representatives from Tipperary's Local Enterprise Office (LEO), gave an update on attracting business to the county, and outlined that serviced sites with water and electricity are what multinational companies who are looking for a base are requiring.
The call for accommodation to be provided was made by Cahir councillor Andy Moloney at the meeting, who called for student-like accommodation to be built on sites where new industrial buildings were being developed.
Speaking to the Irish Independent after the meeting, Cllr Moloney said that the changes would help to encourage more young people into an apprenticeship and help to stem the flow of young people emigrating to Australia and Canada.
"They're saying that power and water are the two main sources, now a lot of these IDA companies are going to be coming in and they're going to be looking for young people to do apprenticeships and all that,' Cllr Moloney said.
"But you won't get apprenticeships and young lads unless they have somewhere to stay, and housing is an issue, and affordable accommodation for students. What you're really looking for is student-type accommodation on-site in a portion of these lands so that the people can come in of a Monday or a Sunday evening and they can stay until Friday evening and they can go back home again,' he outlined.
The plan would aim to encourage young people to undertake an apprenticeship, which traditionally attracts low pay in the first few years, by taking away the stress of finding and affording accommodation on an apprentice wage.
"It would encourage kids to stay at home and do an apprenticeship rather than be getting on a plane and going out foreign,' Cllr Moloney added.
"I'm not looking for a satellite town, but I am looking for satellite accommodation on the site'.
"Say if the IDA come in with a proposal that they're going to create 200 jobs on a site, 10% of that – 20 student-type accommodation units should be provided with it,' Cllr Moloney said.
"It should be the first thing on the site and it could be used by the builders while the project is going ahead, and once it's finished it would be signed back over again and becomes part of the whole thing,' the Cahir councillor explained.
According to Cllr Moloney, more forward thinking is needed to address issues of accommodation and low rates of people taking up apprenticeships, and would make Ireland an even more attractive workforce to multinational companies.
"Most American companies will tell you that they're here because of our educated workforce and that's plain to be seen, but if you're talking about apprenticeships, you're starting off on a low rate but at least if they had the accommodation at least it's something, it's some little bit of a carrot to keep them there'.
The County Tipperary Development Plan or local area plans do not allow for any mixed-use space on lands that are zoned as commercial or industrial which would allow for this type of accommodation to be built.
"In a lot of cases, these could be modular homes, and I'm not looking for anything fancy, just a bedsit with a shower, toilet and a small kitchenette, it's only the size of a big bedroom,' he said.
"I think it's one way of encouraging business in if you can provide these incentives,' Cllr Moloney added.
"County development plans are made five years at a time, but we need to be able to make changes midstream if we see the market moving a bit,' he concluded.
Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme

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