The Minister for Skills, Research and Innovation, Damien English TD, wishes the very best of luck to the 14 young apprentices, trainees and students, who are in São Paulo this week representing Ireland at the 43rd WorldSkills Competition, from 11th – 15th August 2015.
Team Ireland will showcase their skills and talents in the areas of Aircraft Maintenance, Automobile Technology, Beauty Therapy, Cabinet Making, Carpentry, Construction Metal Work, Electrical Installations, Industrial Control, Joinery, Plastering and Dry Wall Systems, Plastic Die Engineering, Plumbing and Heating, Restaurant Service and Welding.
The members come from all over the country and have been in fulltime training for the past eight weeks under the direction of their coaches.
Minister English stated: “The WorldSkills competition is an opportunity for our team members to showcase the skills set and talent that Ireland has to offer in a globally competitive environment. I have met the team and they’re a really talented and impressive bunch of young people who are going for gold. I know they will do us proud.
“Team Ireland’s participation in the competition is also a timely reminder of the importance of the Further Education and Training sector to a recovering Irish economy. A highly skilled workforce is key to a competitive and innovative Ireland and to sustainable job creation.
“My hope in the future for Team Ireland is that we will be sending bigger teams to compete on the world stage, especially given the recent announcement by myself and Minister Jan O’Sullivan of 25 new Apprenticeship proposals, a near doubling of the current offering.” concluded Minister English
The IrelandSkills Council is the coordinating body for Ireland at the WorldSkills Competition. It runs 26 national competitions each year and the Irish Worldskills Team is selected from these. IrelandSkills invite education and training organisation to participate in Ireland Worldskills Council and the Council coordinates the Irish Worldskills Team.
The WorldSkills Competition, a biennial event, is the world’s largest professional education event. Approximately 1,200 competitors from 70 countries and regions will compete in almost 50 different skills and disciplines. All competitors will demonstrate technical abilities, both individually and collectively, to execute specific tasks for which they study and/or perform in their workplace. Over 800 volunteers are assisting the expected 200,000 visitors and school groups.
ENDS.