Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Ceann Comhairle for the opportunity to discuss the important issue of apprenticeships.

I was very welcoming of the launch of the new five-year apprenticeship action plan. The action plan aims to deliver 10,000 apprentice programme registrations per year by 2025. Everyone learns in different ways. The plan to provide a roadmap to a single apprenticeship system and new supports for both employees and apprentices are great, but we are currently facing serious difficulties in respect of apprenticeships because of the pandemic and the delays in the programmes.

I have been contacted by several constituents in Carlow who have highlighted the delays that apprentices are currently facing. Basically, what should have been a four-year apprenticeship is looking like it will be six or seven years. These are hard-working young people who will be here to pay taxes for many years to come, hopefully. However, these delays are going to hinder their opportunities to travel and see the world. They have been held back significantly as a result of the Covid pandemic.

This age group have suffered so much. Many of them worked right the way through the pandemic in essential services. Apprenticeship courses did not provide the same remote learning options as many other courses. One constituent of mine started their apprenticeship in October 2019 and should be qualified and finished in 2023. Their first college phase should have started in September 2020, but it has been postponed until October 2022, two years later than expected.

Taking an apprentice electrician as an example, it normally takes four years to complete the programme. Phase 1 lasts three months; phase 2, 22 weeks; phase 3, a minimum of six months; phase 4, ten to 11 weeks; phase 5, six months; phase 6, ten to 11 weeks; and phase 7, a minimum of three months. Phases 2, 4 and 6 are college-based, and for those apprentices who were due to complete these phases in the past 14 months, there has been a major issue. It must be addressed. I am most concerned that this delay will have a knock-on effect on additional college places. One of my greatest concerns is whether there will be sufficient college places available.

What is the plan to address this issue and what is the solution? We will be crying out for fully-qualified tradespeople as older qualified people retire, and they will not be finished their apprenticeships. That is without mentioning the domino effect it will have. We know that we will badly need tradespeople in the years ahead due to the housing supply issue. This is the sector that is most reliant on apprentices in the workforce.

Having equal access to an apprenticeship irrespective of background, gender or age should be an option for all. However, if a person signs up for an apprenticeship, he or she should be able to complete the required phases of learning properly.

I wish to stress how hard everyone has worked during this pandemic. People have made sacrifices. I know that the Minister understands that, given that he has responsibility for third level education. We have seen students trying to work from home and having to tackle problems with broadband and other issues. The pandemic has had a major effect on them. In respect of apprenticeships, some apprentices will face a two-year delay in completing their courses. That is unacceptable.

Apprenticeship programmes should be an option within the national education and training system, transforming them from a well established route to a career in niche areas such as the crafts sector, to a well established route to a broad range of careers that are attractive to both employers and learners. If we do not address this backlog, we will have difficulty meeting that goal. I look forward to hearing about the work the Minister has done in this area to address the issue, particularly in respect of my own area of Carlow.

I have received several phone calls about this issue. It is a concern and a worry. Some of the apprentices who have approached me about the issue are paying bills and are finding it very hard. They had a plan that they would qualify by a certain date and now that has been extended. I want to know what work has been done on this issue. I look forward to hearing the Minister's response.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for tabling this important topical issue. Indeed, it is most timely because I spent the afternoon in a training centre in Glasnevin with our electrical and plumbing apprentices. I engaged very directly with the apprentices, talked to them about their experiences and heard their insights in respect of the Covid pandemic.

As the Deputy mentioned in her contribution, apprenticeships sit at the very heart of plans by the Government and myself to build a genuine third-level education and training system, one that recognises that we all learn in different ways. Sometimes the earning and learning model can be a very useful one. We want to ensure that we have an apprenticeship system that crosses the further and higher education sector, and one that brings together employers, education and training providers and our national skills infrastructure.

It has a crucial role to play in taking us out of the Covid-19 crisis, as apprenticeship programmes also provide a rapid route to economic recovery. There are currently 61 apprenticeship programmes in our country, 25 of which are what are referred to as craft or traditional apprenticeships. They have a largely standardised seven-phase programme of on-the-job and off-the-job training. Off-the-job training is delivered in phases 2, 4 and 6 of a craft apprenticeship in ETB training centres, institutes of technology and technological universities.

Unfortunately, as the Deputy has alluded to and as we all know, the Covid-19 related suspension of face-to-face training in the education and training sector has had a significant impact on the ability of craft apprentices to access off-the-job training. The public health advice was that some of these measures could not proceed in the interests of safety for a period. When permissible, face-to-face training is operating at approximately 50% of normal capacity to ensure adherence to public health guidance. That training is now back, but operators must adhere to social distancing rules and follow the public health guidance. This has also exacerbated the increasing pressure on training facilities, which had been growing as a result of the 90% increase in the apprentice population over the past six years. Indeed, we had great success as a country in growing the apprentice population. The combined impact of all of these factors has resulted in what the Deputy correctly referred to as a backlog in electrical, plumbing, carpentry and joinery and motor mechanics apprenticeship programmes, in particular.

The combined impact of all this has led to what the Deputy correctly refers to as a backlog, particularly in electrical, plumbing, carpentry and joinery and motor mechanic apprenticeship programmes. Remote training was introduced for craft apprenticeships assigned to off-the-job training phases from January 2021 and great credit is owed to all the staff, trainers and apprentices for this. They managed to put in place online learning for craft apprenticeship programmes, something that had never been done previously. That at least allowed them to progress with the theoretical parts of their courses. However, the core of a craft apprenticeship is not theory. It is a practical programme, and the practical nature requires apprentices to attend on site to be able to access equipment and to demonstrate their competency at practical tasks. As such, the Government has prioritised craft apprentices for a return to face-to-face learning. A phased return has been allowed since April, so that is the good news. They are now back as part of a phased return.

Simply returning to current Covid levels of delivery or, indeed, to pre-Covid levels will not be enough, for all the reasons the Deputy outlined. I have taken some immediate actions to support the expansion of the craft apprenticeship training infrastructure. I am delighted to inform the House that I have secured €20 million in additional capital expenditure, which I have allocated to SOLAS and the HEA to facilitate an additional 4,000 craft apprenticeship places across the system to deal with the backlog and the concern voiced by the Deputy. This is in addition to the €12 million which has already been allocated to support additional classes and to put in place additional teaching capacity to ameliorate the Covid-19 measures. SOLAS and the HEA are working intensively with the education and training providers to identify additional solutions to address the backlog for the off-the-job element. The Government will not be found wanting in providing any resources that are required to help in this. I am satisfied that with the extra €20 million and the fact that apprentices are now back in the practical classes, we will eat into this backlog in the coming months and get on with the delivery of the action plan on apprenticeships.

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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That is very good to know. Communication is the key here so perhaps the Minister could give us more information. I very much welcome the €20 million. It is very important. Apprenticeships have been part of our culture over the years, but we need them now more than ever. It is great to have that apprenticeship programme. It can offer so much to students. I strongly welcome this. In addition, it is important to welcome the technological university for the south east. I have been working very hard with the Minister on this for Carlow. It is great news for Carlow, which has two excellent third level colleges.

I am glad to hear there is only a backlog for a few months. At least I will be able to tell people the Minister is working on the backlog, there is €20 million extra available and, it is hoped, within the next few months there will no longer be a backlog. That is important. For me, communication is key with regard to all the different apprenticeships and courses. The Minister referred to the 61 programmes. That is excellent. It is very good for our country and it is important for us. I know the Minister has been working very hard on apprenticeships. For years it has been an issue I believed we should address, and we are addressing it now. I understand Covid-19 has been a big factor in the delays, but with people getting vaccinated, we are getting back on track. It is important for these students. They want to be qualified and to work full-time, so it is important we get this resolved as soon as possible. I thank the Minister for his reply.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I could not agree more with the Deputy. The Government is going to do two specific things. We are allocating the €20 million to provide extra supports, and if we need to do more we will do it. We have given it to the HEA and to SOLAS and they are examining what practical measures they can put in place to reduce the backlog. Second, and importantly, we have prioritised getting the apprentices back to their practical face-to-face provision. That is in place since last month.

As regards the technological university for the south east, I thank the Deputy for her support for this project. I am delighted to tell her that, before I came to the Chamber this evening, I wrote to the HEA about the appointment of the international independent panel, the advisory panel. That is the next solid step. I am not pre-empting that but, subject to things going well, we will deliver on the date and get the doors of the technological university for the south east open on 1 January 2022. It will be a major day for Carlow and the south east. We will keep talking about Carlow College as well, and I know we have work to do on that.

Apprenticeships are very much at the core of the Government's education policy and the economic recovery policy. We want to do five things. We want to get more apprentices - 10,000 each year by 2025. We want to ensure there are more diverse people involved in apprenticeships, especially more women. We want to make sure there is a broader range of apprenticeships. I am delighted with the roll-out of a new apprenticeship programme in hairdressing, for example, in recent weeks. There are 17 more apprenticeship programmes in the pipeline. We want the public sector not to just lecture people but to step up and play its part. We want it to hire 750 apprentices every year by 2025. Every county council, State agency and Department has a role to play. We also realise we cannot deliver on this agenda without businesses, so we want to provide more supports for businesses, including financial supports.

The Government is prioritising apprenticeships and will continue to do so. We must end the narrow, elitist and sometimes, sadly, snobby attitude we have to third level education in this country. We must recognise everybody learns in different ways. There is no right way or wrong way, just many different ways. Apprenticeships will be at the core of that.