THE MAJORITY OF people in Ireland are in favour of basic DIY skills being taught in schools, according to a poll carried out by the AA.

A group of 11,000 people were polled by AA Home Emergency Response, the group’s new subscription-based service for home emergencies such as burst pipes, broken down boilers and faulty electrics. Of them, 90 per cent agreed – completely or somewhat – that DIY skills should be part of secondary school instruction, and suggested that transition year would be the ideal time to do so.

Only 2 per cent of those polled voiced strong opposition to the notion.

Twenty-five per cent of respondents said they were ‘clueless’ about DIY, while 60 per cent said they had a good knowledge of it. However, the AA said the results show DIY skills were becoming less prevalent amongst younger generations.

Respondents aged under 35 who could not do DIY said one of the major barriers to them gaining the skills was having no one to teach them the basics. A third of those without skills in that age-group said they had never had the opportunity to learn – compared to just 14 per cent of those over the age of 65 and 19 per cent of those aged between 55 and 65 years.

However, under-35s were were also quicker to admit that laziness and general disinterest were to blame for their lack of knowledge.