Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Thursday, 23 November 2023
Public Accounts Committee
Appropriation Accounts 2022
Vote 45 - Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science
Financial Statements 2022: National Training Fund
Report on the Accounts of the Public Services 2022
Chapter 19: National Training Fund
9:30 am
Dr. Colm O'Reardon:
I will ask Mr. Beausang to come in on that.
We are putting in place a public sector apprenticeship programme to try to expand apprenticeships in the public sector. It is wide-ranging. For example, it covers the Office of Public Works, OPW and the Defence Forces, which have an apprenticeship in cybersecurity. It is quite different. As the Cathaoirleach said, it goes beyond the range of the traditional craft apprenticeship areas. There are IT apprenticeships and cybersecurity apprenticeships. It is a much expanded concept. Our target is to get to 750 apprentices in the public sector.