Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

At the end of October there were 5,514 apprentices who had been waiting more than six months to access their off-the-job training. Some 5,319 were at phase 2 and the remainder were at phases 4 or 6. Through budget 2024 there has been an additional €67 million allocated to the whole area of apprenticeships. It is our target, as the Acting Chair knows and has heard us say before, to grow the numbers in apprenticeship, especially in the craft apprenticeship area, from 13,000 place to over 16,000 places. That is obviously to deal with the demand out there in the labour market, particularly for craft apprentices.