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

The Deputy asked about the numbers who took up the various apprenticeships. I do not have that detail to hand at the moment. Suffice it to say that during 2020 there was naturally a drop-off due to Covid-19 and the impact of the pandemic in terms of the number of people who took up apprenticeships and applied for apprenticeships. That was part of the reason we introduced the incentivisation scheme to which I alluded in my earlier remarks. I will respond to the Deputy and we will get him an exact breakdown on the numbers who entered each of the various apprenticeships across the range of apprenticeships during 2020 vis-à-vis2019.

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