Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We have two speaking slots and I will take both as Deputy Conway-Walsh is unable to participate. My first series of questions will be those Deputy Conway-Walsh wanted to raise. I thank the witnesses for their statements. This is a crucial issue. My first questions are for SOLAS and Mr. Brownlee. As I understand it, in February 2021 almost 7,000 apprentices from five craft programmes were on waiting lists for off-the-job training. At that stage, 1,800 of them had been waiting for more than a year. This goes well above and beyond the Covid situation. What is the situation at present, two months later? Given that 1,800 people had been waiting for more than a year what are the non-Covid related causes of delay? Why were there delays prior to Covid in the first place? How will we clear the backlog and when can we expect it to be cleared?

My next question relates to the overall approach. We welcome talk of a unified approach but there are some misgivings about the consortia-led model. Some of the trade unions, including Connect, have been raising concerns that it is a move away from what has been a fairly successful model for craft apprenticeships under SOLAS.

The level of take-up under the consortia-led model has not been anything like what it was under the former model. This led to some of the targets being missed. Is it accurate to say that overall the approach is to move craft apprenticeships to this consortia-led model? Will SOLAS no longer be the co-ordinating provider for craft apprenticeships once the migration is complete? There are concerns. We have a world-class apprenticeship model for training tradespeople and there are concerns that risks are being taken in this regard.

It has been said that the apprenticeship population is reaching 20,000. My understanding of figures released by the Department is that there was an apprenticeship population of 28,500 in 2007 before many of these new apprenticeships were ever envisaged. The 10,000 additional annual registrations would give us a population of 31,000 to 33,000 apprentices. Proportionately, this leaves us a long way short of some of the more successful countries. Given the importance and emphasis being placed on this and on expanding areas linked to the green economy and construction, is it ambitious enough?