Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We can see from the figures there were 6,913 in 2014. We are so far behind. This is why we need to monitor this as well as the number of dropouts. We need to keep advancing. We also need clarity that we are measuring it properly across the board. The Minister of State will agree we are still way behind other countries in how apprenticeships are handled.

With regard to the backlog in phases 4 and 6, in November the Minister, Deputy Harris, said it would be cleared in the early months of 2022. Instead of this we have seen the number of registered apprentices trying to access classroom training jump back up by 2,500 in the past two months. This would suggest there has not been progress since November when all of the capacity restrictions were lifted. I am trying to get a take on whether we are really making advances on clearing the backlog.