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

We agree with the Deputy. The issue he raised is valid. It is something that we are conscious of and we have spoken to the National Apprenticeship Office and the director about making it a priority. The whole apprenticeship space has changed so much in the past number of years, even in terms of the new apprenticeships that have been added, particularly the consortia apprenticeships, which are a collaboration between the sectors, the employers in particular within the sectors and the training providers.

We are all learning and we are all on a journey. However, we are making significant progress. There will be learnings and we accept that. There has to be a comprehensive feedback and information flow in terms of why people drop out. There will always be people who will drop out for various reasons and obviously we need to try to minimise that. The key to that will be enabling people to make informed choices when they are pursuing the earn as you learn career path of an apprenticeship also.

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