James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)

I think we are all in violent agreement that we need more apprentices. It is a programme for Government commitment I am working towards. The exact intention of this legislation is to give effect to it. We are opening up a €1.5 billion fund we can use for exactly the kind of things Deputy Gould spoke so passionately about.

Cork Education and Training Board has many proposals for training centres it can develop which will host apprentices. It has my support regarding those initiatives. These are the kinds of things we can look to do on with moneys from this fund once we have managed to unlock it. It will certainly benefit apprenticeships and apprenticeship training.

In the budget, we provided a record level of funding for apprenticeships, €410 million, which is an historic high, with an additional €79 million pledged this year alone. It is the largest increase ever. We are also working on the action plan for apprenticeships for the next five years. That is to run from 2026 to 2030. It is a work in progress. We are looking to go on from 78 to 79 to 80 etc., and to continually increase the number of occupations that can be accessed through apprenticeships. We are continuing to increase the numbers. As Deputy Cummins noted, we have a link to apprenticeships on the CAO page in order to promote a common entry point.

There is very high demand for tradespeople and for apprentices more generally. That is exactly why we are supporting them by means of this legislation. What this legislation will do is enable us to provide more training centres, training equipment, courses, skills and provision in order that we reach our shared goal of increasing the number of apprenticeships in the system.

Turning to the amendment, there are many ways to achieve a similar result, including by means of a guidance note and some procurement. I note Deputy Gould's point about how other EU countries may transpose directives in different ways. Right now, the European Commission is looking at the procurement directive. Perhaps engaging as part of that process would be the way to proceed. If we were to jump the gun and introduce domestic legislation that may be in contravention of the EU legislation that is currently being reviewed, the sequencing would be wrong. The Attorney General's advice is that it would not be appropriate in any event. For that reason, unfortunately, I cannot accept the amendment. The Deputy will understand that, but I absolutely support the goals outlined. We can achieve those in other ways.

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