James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)

I completely agree it is not acceptable. This is why I have taken strong, proactive steps to address it since it came to my attention. As well as directing SOLAS that no courses should be cancelled, I directed it to engage with ETBs to set out the programme of phase 2 classes through to the end of the year and to work out funding implications across the board to December. What does the revised schedule of classes look like? It means no classes will be cancelled but some may start later in the year than previously planned. That will be managed. My message to SOLAS and the ETBs is to manage it proactively and minimise the impact on apprentices. Instructors will be working. They have many other tasks to perform as part of their curriculum development. There are different challenges. Some ETBs are impacted differently than others, and some trades are impacted differently than others. The plan SOLAS is working on takes account of those variances. The response I received from SOLAS is that, once it is managed practically, it will not materially impact progression to the following year, which is very important.

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