Dell workers’ move into schools mooted

THE Government should consider moving unemployed Dell workers into computer technical support for schools, according to the body representing city and county Vocational Education Committees (VECs).

Although most of the 1,900 people who will lose their jobs at the Limerick plant after the announcement earlier this month are in the manufacturing rather than the technical side of operations, the Irish Vocational Education Association (IVEA) said those without the relevant expertise could be trained up to the work locally.

The association said the move would also save the state on social welfare payments to some of those being made redundant in the region.

In a strategy document for information and communication technology (ICT) in schools published by Education Minister Batt O’Keeffe last summer, the need for ongoing maintenance and replacement of hardware was highlighted, along with the need to provide better technical support for schools.

In a letter to Mr O’Keeffe, IVEA general secretary, Michael Moriarty, strongly urged the minister to immediately investigate the possibility of redeploying a number of Dell technical workers, and other appropriately skilled people affected by the job cuts, to ICT support in schools.

He said such a redeployment would advance “both the measures highlighted in the Department of Education’s ICT reports and the priorities in the National Development Plan”.

“For those without the expertise, the Limerick region’s VECs can provide a wide range of advisory services as well as retraining and upskilling courses,” he said.