James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for her question. At the outset, I want to challenge the characterisation of "unfit for purpose". That is a strong phrase and is not one that was reflected in the parliamentary question as tabled. I do not believe that is true or fair to the system. There have been backlogs. Those backlogs are being worked through, for sure.

For context, there has been a strong growth in demand for craft apprenticeships in recent years, which reflects a booming construction sector, with yearly craft registrations rising by 34% from 5,300 in 2019 to 7,100 in 2024. Analysis conducted in the summer of 2023 showed that apprenticeship training capacity was indeed insufficient to meet that growing demand. I absolutely acknowledge this but I differ from the Deputy in that action was taken quickly on foot of that. To alleviate the growing backlog of apprentices who were waiting six months or longer for phase 2 off-the-job training in the education and training boards, ETBs, a backlog that had been exacerbated by the pandemic and the many workshop closures in the prior two years, a priority response was established by the National Apprenticeship Office, NAO, in November 2023. It was problem identified, problem diagnosed and problem addressed.

The implementation of this plan, to increase apprenticeship places and accelerate throughput in the system and increase capacity, was overseen in action by my Department. To successfully remedy the issue, significant resources were expended in the apprenticeship system and committed to it. Additional funding of €67 million in budget 2024 and an additional €77 million in budget 2025 was targeted at apprenticeship delivery. In addition, a targeted national recruitment campaign was launched in late 2023. This led to the recruitment and the introduction of 110 additional apprentice instructors. The combination of those moves, including the additional funding, the 110 instructors hired, and another 80 instructors converted from fixed-term to permanent contracts, were all measures that supported addressing the backlog.

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