James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

No, that is great. I thank Deputy Kenny very much for his continued interest in and advocacy for the sector. Let us take the issues in the order the Deputy raised them and start with the apprenticeships' issue. I think there is a great story to tell around apprentices. One of the real success stories of recent years has been the broadening of that spectrum. We now have apprenticeship courses in things like digital marketing and my own Department has a digital marketing practice working within it in this context and making great strides. We also have apprentices in cybersecurity, as well as accounting technicians and town planners. We have all sorts of occupations that were never traditionally part of the apprenticeship programme coming into it because it is a very successful earn-while-you-learn model, which I think is a good ambition for anybody. It is something I wish to continue to expand. I have met several professional bodies across different traditional professions as well as other ones in the short time I have been in the Department to explore what further apprenticeship courses we can provide. In this budget, there was additional investment in apprenticeships of €77.4 million, which is the largest ever single investment in the apprenticeship system. That is in this budget, the one before us today in terms of the revision. The total budget for apprenticeships is now €337 million, which is a significant 83% increase since 2020.

The Deputy also asked about the local authorities and apprenticeships, and I think he is right in that regard. One of the goals we have – I brought a memo to the Cabinet in the last couple of weeks on this issue – is to increase the public sector participation in apprenticeship programmes. We must walk the walk as well as talk the talk. We have to lead by example.