Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy will be aware that retrofitting will be a major part of the journey. We need to see a tenfold increase in the scale of retrofitting by 2030. Obviously, Professor FitzGerald is indicating we need to go beyond that. That will represent less than 1% of GDP, large and all as it is. Therefore, we will be able to accommodate what is proposed. The approach the Government is taking is to initiate in 2020 an aggregated model in the midlands, where I am confident, given other difficulties in the region, we will be able to attract the skills to deliver on scale. I have been working with the regional skills forum in the region to identify the training needs to support such an approach. Following the move in the midlands, we will extend the initiative nationwide. I agree with the Deputy on this. One of the key challenges for the Government has been the expansion of apprenticeships from the traditional 27 roles to 100. That is being rolled out. This is an area in which there will be scope for new traineeships and apprenticeships.

See this speech in context