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

The Department continues to oversee the implementation of a plan put in place by the national apprenticeship office to significantly increase apprenticeship capacity and respond to the rise in craft apprenticeship registrations that are a result of the buoyant construction sector. The number of craft apprentices waiting for six months or longer for phase 2 of their job training has decreased by 42% since the implementation of the plan, from 5,319 in October 2023 to 3,071 in May 2024. Craft apprenticeships are designed to take 48 months. Of the 25 craft apprenticeship programmes, electrical instrumentation and pipe fitting are the two programmes taking significantly longer to complete, affecting a maximum of 300 apprentices.

The national apprenticeship office continues its focus on speeding up the completion of these programmes. Significant resources have been invested in the apprenticeship system - €64 million allocated in budget 2024 and €17 million of capital investment in 2023 - to support staff and other operational expenditure required to expand apprenticeship provision in current facilities; to help to develop new facilities; and to purchase required equipment. The national recruitment campaign, led by the national apprenticeship office, has resulted in 61 new instructor posts, in addition to the 80 instructor posts which were converted from fixed-term to permanent contracts, supporting retention. The capacity of education and training boards, ETBs, to deliver apprenticeship places has grown by 38% since the end of 2023 from 5,600 places in December 2023 to more than 7,500 in May 2024. This is a substantial increase in a short period, reflecting an entire apprenticeship system responding to this priority. It remains our priority to maintain this momentum, continue growing the apprenticeship system and ensure there will be enough training places for current and future skills needs.

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