Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Dolan for keeping in close contact with me on this matter. I know how eager she and her constituency community are to get this over the line. The approach I take is similar to hers. While we rightly have pride in the fact that we now have record numbers of people registering to be apprentices, which is something we should continue to push, we need to look at the other realities beneath those headline figures. Just as the Senator mentioned, we need to ensure that apprenticeships are available and accessible to people within their communities. We need to make it as easy as possible for someone to become an apprentice and not make people go out of their way. We also need to ensure that businesses in those areas can access and benefit from a supply of apprentices. Businesses should not have to be in a large city or county to do that. We are grateful for and enthused by ETBs coming forward with ideas about how to develop additional apprenticeship capacities within their own areas or counties. Not to digress, but I was in Killybegs on Monday. The ATU campus in rural Killybegs is going to take on 190 apprentices. That will transform not just the campus in Killybegs, but the footfall of predominantly young people in Killybegs. That can only be a good thing.

The Senator’s ETB is liaising with SOLAS on what we call a business case. It has to submit a little more information, but SOLAS and my Department are keeping a close eye on the matter and we hope to bring it to a conclusion as quickly as possible. I know of the need in Roscommon.