Tomorrow will see the launch of the most significant training initiative ever undertaken by the Irish motor industry.
It is hoped it will improve the standard of customer care at showrooms and service stations, as well as ensuring that the technical ability of the country's motor mechanics and technicians is at the highest international standards.
After years of research, development and pilot studies, FÁS, the State's training and employment agency, and the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) have identified 19 specific occupation-based career training paths for each employment strand within the industry.
Tomorrow Minister for Labour Affairs Tony Killeen, together with Rody Molloy, director general of FÁS, and Louis O'Hanlon, SIMI president, will launch a detailed training programme for each of those 19 career paths to the industry.
FÁS sector manager Jack Horgan explained that the investment, which includes up to 60 per cent financing of training costs, will have major paybacks. "We know that an increase in skills and qualifications will effectively protect people and jobs," he says. "If Ireland is to become a highly skilled niche player with a knowledge-based economy, we have to raise everyone up by at least one full level of skill." With just under 50,000 employees in the industry, 80 per cent of whom have no formal industry qualifications, the need to have a structured training programme whereby people can attain that "next level of skill" is clear.
At present, only mechanical apprentices have a such a structured training programme to follow. This has partly resulted in a situation where the motor industry has failed to attract or retain third-level graduates who have been looking for a defined career path.
As a result, the industry has seen a decline in the number of new trainees being attracted into the sector, not least because of concerns over pay and prospects. improve customer services.
To further this, a customer care programme will be made mandatory for all categories of trainees, whether they are employed as technicians or receptionists.
As O'Hanlon, said: "With the advent of recognised professional qualifications for the specified occupations, the industry will steadily be working towards a situation where we have the most highly skilled and professional employee base in the country.
"This can only improve and streamline our businesses into the future and enable us to provide the highest professional standards of service possible for our customers."