Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am not reopening another debate on housing but I would just point out that the Housing for All targets were met in the last calendar year. There are precisely 320 public sector apprenticeships as of now, with 100 more planned for this year. If we include the semi-State sector as well, the total is 938 apprenticeships. There are 938 apprentices in the public and semi-State sectors combined. There are 320 in the public sector alone, with another 100 to be added.

I had a very interesting meeting with the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, ICTU, and other individual unions in recent weeks. We need both the carrot and stick here. There is a need for all parts of the public sector to step up and do more. Some really have done so but others have not. There is also a need for me, on behalf of the Government, to better understand any of the blockages that they encounter and how we can overcome them. I am very confident that we will get to the target of 750 by 2025. In fact, I see it as absolutely vital and how we get there is something I intend to bottom out over the next few weeks. I am expecting to bring a memo to Government on public sector apprenticeships between now and the summer.

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