Troy welcomes go-ahead for new national centre for electric vehicle skills
Fianna Fáil TD for Longford-Westmeath Robert Troy has welcomed the go-ahead for a new national centre for electric vehicle skills in Mullingar.
The centre will be a critical component of the State’s response to the green transition, and will ensure that Irish workers are fully equipped to handle expanding skills requirements of electric vehicles.
When fully developed, it 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 and Education Training (FET) sector remain a leader in the delivery of motor mechanic skills.
The National Centre will be hosted by Longford-Westmeath ETB, and will build upon the ETB’s a long legacy of skilled craft training in motor mechanics within the region.
Some €200,000 was allocated in Budget 2024 to establish the office, which will temporarily be based in the head office of LWETB in Marlinstown.
Deputy Troy said: "I very much welcome the announcement by Minister Simon Harris that a new national centre for electric vehicle skills is set to be established in Mullingar.
"As the number of electric vehicles on our roads continues to rise so too will the need for a workforce which is skilled enough to maintain them.
"Mullingar is a growing town and this centre will create many new jobs. I have no doubt the need for the centre will grow in the coming years as more and more people transition to electric vehicles.
“I have raised the need for this dedicated centre with Minister Harris on a number of occasions since the board of the ETB made me aware they were interested in pursuing the project. I want to express my gratitude to CEO Liz Lavery and the rest of the LWETB for driving this project and I look forward to seeing the development come to fruition.
“Now that the centre has been given the go-ahead it is critical that a project office is established as quickly as possible. The first task must be the selection of a permanent site for the centre and I believe the priority should be to construct the centre on state-owned land.”