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

I reiterate that nobody is being abandoned. What is being done to rectify the issue? To date, €2 million has been allocated in capital expenditure to SOLAS and the Higher Education Authority to facilitate 4,000 additional craft apprenticeship places across the system. This is in addition to €12 million already allocated to support additional classes and teaching capacity to ameliorate the Covid-19 measures. Spaces arising from these measures will begin to come on stream in the second half of this year. There will be provisions for on-site presence for apprentices during the summer months. Appropriate protective measures will be put in place and numbers on site will be controlled.

An oversight group is now in place, comprising SOLAS, the ETBs and SIPTU representatives. The group is overseeing the development of an emergency approach to training for the three programmes with the longest waiting lists, which are electrical, plumbing-----

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