Carol Nolan (Laois-Offaly, Independent)
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I welcome the debate on this Bill. It contains some practical and worthwhile changes to the current regime. The emphasis of the Bill is also a welcome leap forward in that many of its sections are pragmatic and more reflective of where people are at as regards skills and the need to maintain safety as a key component of work on a construction or quarry site. In this respect, I note sections 24 to 33 which deal with the establishment of a licensing model for workers based on an assessment of competence to replace the accredited training model. I know the Bill in the round deals with the issue of the Safe Pass, which has become yet again another example of needless red tape and a bureaucratic nightmare that has to be navigated by workers every four years.

We must find a way to help the construction sector to fulfil its potential given the key role it plays in delivering capital infrastructure and, more important, housing. The scale of the challenge and the need for construction workers were laid out clearly in the labour demand estimates for Ireland's national housing targets for the period 2021 to 2030 produced by the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs. The report stated that based on profile, total labour demand from housing construction is estimated to rise from approximately 40,000 full-time equivalent workers at its 2019 to 2020 level to 67,500 workers by the middle of the decade. This represents an estimated additional 27,500 workers over five years. Total demand is estimated to peak at more than 80,000 workers towards the end of the decade. Where will all these workers come from if we cannot make construction an attractive and viable employment opportunity for young people, including our engineering and architectural graduates? From meeting apprentices at meetings of the Joint Committee on Education, Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science who spoke about the wet trades, poor pay and so on that all must change in the apprenticeship system if we are to get more workers into construction. I hope there will be moves and initiatives to pay those people properly while they are doing apprenticeships.

We have done some significant work at the joint committee on the need to improve apprenticeship numbers and fundamentally reform the model of education we are currently obsessed with, which is focused on academic achievement and says that college is the route preferred over an apprenticeship. I hope that will continue to change. I will speak about Laois-Offaly Education and Training Board, which is in my constituency. It is doing fantastic work in promoting apprenticeships and the ESB is also reaching out to secondary schools in an attempt to increase the number of apprentices who will be badly needed. We have a chronic lack of skilled personnel and as the need becomes more acute, that deficit will be keenly felt. I understand from the expert group report that if we are to meet our housing and construction targets, we will need the following additional numbers of skilled workers by the end of the decade: 2,500 additional carpenters and joiners; 1,900 additional electricians; 1,300 additional plumbers; 1,100 additional painters and decorators; and an additional 700 bricklayers and masons. I will conclude on that point and cede to my colleagues.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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I am glad to speak on this Bill. Sa chéad dul síos, I congratulate Tipperary ETB on the fabulous centre it has in Archerstown in Thurles where students are trained in everything from bed repairs for hotel maintenance and the cleaning of rooms in hotels to operating massive bulldozers in construction and everything in between, from chef training to you name it. We need more of that because we have a huge deficit in apprentices.

Deputy Nolan referred to the projected estimates. Where will we get these people? We will not get them. We must recognise the trades. We took our eyes off the ball for years as regards the tradespeople who have completed apprenticeships. They are valuable to our society. Everyone wanted to be in college and to have degrees coming out their ears but we did not have anyone to do the work. We have promises, as we had a correction made to the Dáil record earlier. People were looking at that scheme regarding retrofitting and solar panels eagerly but now we find it will cost a whopper 23% VAT for the person to buy them if they install them themselves.

I will stick to this legislation, which I welcome. I welcome the reform of the Safe Pass, which has been nothing short of a money-making item. As it happened, it has been gobbled up by people with briefcases who got a few courses under their belts before becoming officials. They go in and declare that they and the staff of their businesses have sat the Safe Pass test. It is pathetic to be honest. It does not provide any training. It is a waste of a day and is badly in need of reform.

We must have legislation that protects workers. I value workers. Every employer has good workers who they look after and they look after that good relationship. As my colleagues did yesterday, I decry the people in this House who day in and day out, hour in and hour out, gach nóiméad, attack construction companies, small builders and developers as though they were a plague. We need those people to create work. We need small businesses. We need to be able to do the work and build and get the houses. This is mainly coming from those on the hard left. I do not know what left they are. They did not wear a hard hat anyway and we would never see them near a building site. They do not know what a building site, a cement mixer, a shovel or anything else is. They keep decrying and demonising these people. How will we encourage apprentices to go into this work if they will all be working for cowboys and cabals and horrible people? This must stop. We must respect building companies. The rogues should and must be dealt with. Light-touch regulation was not good for any of them.

Ordinary people want to have small businesses and employ perhaps between one and ten people and businesses want to employ people and help them to work and get work done. We must build the houses and all the infrastructure we need in our communities to allow the houses to be built, including colleges and roads. We should not have to go abroad for these workers. I have nothing against people coming from abroad to work but we did not have anyone to do any work and we badly need it. If we respect workers, they will carry on the work.

Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent)
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Construction safety is important and that goes without being noticed. We are putting those in the construction industry, the builders, in a difficult position. They have to comply with Safe Pass. They have to comply with so much it is making it almost impossible for them to get a day's work or a good week's work done. It will put the price of housing up more severely. The construction industry and small companies talk to me about this every day of the week.

Recently, one company told me that while it welcomes the new temporary waiver of development levies, small companies are in a precarious position. One of them is in west Cork. It commenced construction of more than 30 houses in County Cork in the past 12 months. The houses are being constructed in two phases, with eight substantially complete and 24 due to commence shortly. By written agreement, the development bond has been paid to Cork County Council for phase 1, with the development bond for the second phase payable in the coming weeks. The company paid the development levies in 2022 to Cork County Council, Irish Water and the ESB. Another developer will commence a similar housing development nearby this summer. There is no issue with that, but the problem is that one will be paying development levies and the other will not. The 30-house development has been placed at an immediate and significant competitive disadvantage. I would genuinely appreciate it if the Minister of State looked into this matter. I can send him the details. This company is seeking a refund of the development levies paid in respect of 24 of the 30 houses.

He is being penalised and crippled in carrying out his work when others will essentially have free development levies. This situation cannot be allowed to continue without a bit of fairness being brought to it.

The Rural Independent Group has spoken a great deal about planning permissions, the difficulties experienced by young people in building homes in rural communities, log houses and so forth. We have proposed many solutions for the housing issue, but they have not been listened to. I have pity for people who are trying to get up and running. On a slightly connected matter, Mr. Brendan Piper is trying to set up a funfair business in Kinsale, but he is not being allowed to build it because Cork County Council is seeking a bond, something that has never been heard of. I have spoken to other Deputies about this matter. It is unfair on people who are trying to set up businesses. There is a difficulty in encouraging builders to carry out construction in areas that need looking after better.

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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We have all learned from the past, which is why the Bill seeks to regulate and license construction, quarrying and related activities through a single designated body. As we ramp up our efforts to tackle the housing crisis, we need to ensure that health and safety and correct regulations are strengthened. Houses that were let down by faulty building supplies should be able to be remedied regardless of where they are located. I would like this suggestion to be considered. I know of cases in my area that are outside the current scheme. Admittedly, there are not many, but the scheme needs to be re-examined.

The Bill will establish a designated licensing authority for the sector, including a licensing model for tutors and a register of licensed and approved training organisations. It also proposes to introduce a skills-based system of assessment, including recognition of foreign qualifications, creates several new offences, and provides for complaints and investigations around fraud or non-compliance by a tutor or approved training organisation.

The Bill establishes on a legislative basis safety awareness requirements for workers in the construction sector. It is important that we have come this far. Lives matter. We have seen the results of the absence of safety. It is vital that we embed health and safety in the training of our construction workers if we are to enhance their safety on site. This is for their own protection.

The establishment of a licensing model for workers that is based on assessment and replaces the accredited training model is important. This is a reward for all those workers who are doing a great job. The introduction of a skills-based assessment with no distinction on the basis of environment, thus amalgamating the assessment and licensing process for construction and quarrying activities, is positive.

It is vital that we create offences of fraudulently obtaining a Safepass card for a worker or a tutor or a licence or approval for a training organisation, non-compliance by tutors and approved training organisations with a code of practice, and associated offences for contractors and employers. We need the term "cowboy builders" to be a thing of the past. I am sure we have all heard it. I know many upstanding members of the sector who have been tarred by unscrupulous characters. Today's construction industry is a better one because of regulation. This Bill will strengthen that.

Our need to build more houses is unquestionably urgent, but I would also like to discuss apprenticeships. Carlow is a university town. We are lucky to have university status in the south east. The Minister of State is working on integrating Carlow College into the university. We need to ensure that our skilled tradespeople do not leave the country. We must have enough tradespeople to build all the houses we need, so we must look after them. Many young people have a large number of opportunities, but we need many more people in the construction industry. It is important that we work with them and do our best to ensure that. The Minister of State is dedicated to doing this – I have spoken to him about the matter several times. His commitment in this respect is welcome, but we need to work on the issue more.

Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Like many Deputies, I welcome much of the Bill. We should do everything we can to streamline safety and, from a SOLAS point of view, licensing. We also need to streamline how we deal with out-of-State qualifications, and there are issues still obtaining on this island. Anything that can be done to deal with the obstacles that people are encountering is necessary.

We all get the idea of lifelong learning. I like the idea that, as important as they are, apprenticeships are not just for the wet trades. Of course, it must be recognised that we need apprenticeships in the wet trades if we are to pursue building above and beyond the level we are able to deliver at this time, but the apprenticeship model will probably relate to many other types of training as well. This is a requirement. There is talk of retrofitting as well as upgrading skills. We need to examine our apprenticeships, particularly in terms of electricians, plumbers, etc., and ensure they are upgraded so that they include necessary skills in new technologies, retrofitting and renewables.

I have seen a significant amount of positive news in County Louth about, for example, the Louth and Meath Education and Training Board, LMETB. Some of that is coming on the back of the Drogheda implementation plan. There is also the Advanced Manufacturing Training Centre of Excellence in Dundalk. In what is a cross-Border, multi-agency scenario, the centre deals directly with industry and asks what it needs from skill sets. We need to ensure that this happens. The LMETB has been examining new construction technologies. I have seen 3D concrete printing in Drogheda, and we know that there is less waste in that. The LMETB has examined new technologies in terms of the materials being used. I believe there are proposals in that respect. The sooner the better, as that is what we need.

"Workforce planning" is a term Deputies use in the Chamber every week. We need to ensure that we pursue workforce planning properly, with Departments speaking to one another. We must also ensure that the skills and labour market research unit, the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs, the regional skills forum and everyone else that needs to be involved are speaking to one another.

Having mentioned the LMETB, I need to refer to O'Fiaich College. My kids attend its post-leaving certificate, PLC, section as well as its post-primary school. The college is being hemmed in and does not have sufficient space. This matter will need to be examined.

Unfortunately, the Minister, Deputy Harris, is not present. We have spoken about disability all week. There is a particular issue with personal assistants in further education colleges. Conversations are under way between Fórsa, the Minister's Department and SOLAS. We need to bring those to a conclusion. I believe the Minister is going to meet some of the people in his Department and O'Fiaich College, but that needs to happen soon. We have a piece of work to do on inclusivity across the board.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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Fáiltím roimh an deis píosa cainte a dhéanamh faoin mBille seo, is é sin an Bille um Cheadúnú Sábháilteachta Foirgníochta. Is Bille thar a bheith tábhachtach é, le 60 leathanach agus 63 mír laistigh de naoi gCuid. Is Bille téagartha é i ndáiríre agus tá sceideal ann freisin a chlúdaíonn na gníomhaíochtaí atá faoi chaibidil againn agus a bheidh ann faoin gcóras nua. Ba mhaith liom mo bhuíochas a ghabháil leis an tSeirbhís Leabharlainne agus Taighde freisin as an digest a réitigh sí dúinn chun an Bille a mhíniú.

Mo bhuíochas don Roinn agus don Aire as an obair atá déanta acu. Is Bille thar a bheith tábhachtach é seo agus nuair a bheidh sé i bhfeidhm, beidh córas iomlán nua i gceist ó thaobh an chórais oiliúna de. Beidh údarás nua ann agus beidh an t-údarás sin ilfheidhmeach ó thaobh a lán rudaí, go háirithe ó thaobh aitheantas a thabhairt d’oibrithe ó thaobh na gcáilíochtaí de. Beidh siad siúd in ann gearáin a fháil agus beidh córas achomharc i gceist freisin. Ní bheidh idirdhealú a thuilleadh idir oibrithe a oibríonn san earnáil tógála agus iad siúd a oibríonn sa chóras cairéil agus is maith an rud é sin. Tá sé thar a bheith tábhachtach mar tá an Bille seo dírithe ar chúrsaí sábháilteachta agus ar chúrsaí sláinte. Chun é sin a chur i gcomhthéacs, ní mór dom na figiúirí ón Údarás Sláinte agus Sábháilteachta a lua. Dúradh linn sna figiúirí sin gur cailleadh seachtar in 2022 agus dúradh linn go bhfuil an t-údarás ar an eolas gurb é an earnáil tógála ceann de na hearnálacha is baolaí. Idir 2011 agus 2014, cailleadh 153 duine san earnáil tógála. In 2021, d’fhulaing beagnach 800 duine san earnáil seo. Cuireann sé sin an rud i gcomhthéacs. Tá an Bille seo thar a bheith tábhachtach dúinne mar thír agus don earnáil tógála, ach níl i gceist anseo ach gné amháin ón méid atá ag teastáil. B’fhéidir nach mbeidh deis agam dul ar ais go dtí an córas printíseachta roimh dheireadh mo phíosa cainte, ach fáiltím roimh an Bille seo.

I very much welcome the Bill. I will avoid trying to repeat what I have just said in Irish, but it is important to thank the Library & Research Service, as usual, for providing a very good digest, the Department for its work and the Minister. This is an extremely important Bill that has health and safety at its core. I hope that that will materialise in reality and that it will not be a bureaucratic - I will not say "maze", but I hope it will do the job it is supposed to do. It will be essential to see a review of it in due course.

The Bill comes from a long history. The general scheme was published in October 2022. The pre-legislative scrutiny was waived. I am always worried when I see that happen because it is a very important opportunity for things to be teased out, but the committee made that decision.

As regards the regulatory impact analysis, I will be gone when the Minister of State gives his closing speech, unfortunately, but he might clarify this for the record. A regulatory impact analysis, RIA, is carried out for every Bill, as I understand it, but the library has pointed out that the RIA for this Bill was not published. I am not sure why that RIA was not published. It was given to the library on the basis that it would be given to us but that we could not share it. That seems like something out of - I do not know what it is out of, but is there a reason for that? I have read it and I see nothing in it that cannot be shared, yet a decision was made that it would not be published. Perhaps the Minister of State could clarify that, particularly when pre-legislative scrutiny was waived.

On top of that, going back to 2017, we had what is known as the BearingPoint report. The Department knows more about this than I do, but that was in 2017 and it identified a number of issues: the resurgence of activity in the construction sector; the continued growth of the workforce in the coming five years; the changing nature and make-up of the construction industry workforce; the emergence of new equipment, techniques and methods that were not addressed in current legislation and are still not; and the need to facilitate the mobility of the EU workers in this sector. I know that the recognition of qualifications from other countries is part of this Bill. The authors of the report pointed out back in 2017, six years ago, that the legislation was dated and was limiting opportunities for process and programme improvements and that there was a misalignment between the existing accreditation system and the Further Education and Training Awards Council, FETAC, awards. That is being sorted out, I hope, with this Bill. The authors pointed to a loss of key staff, which has been referred to repeatedly, in specialist skills within the construction services unit of the Department and subsequent capacity to meet increasing demands.

Following the publication of the BearingPoint report, an independent technical working group was established. It reported on how to progress the review's recommendations and, again, found that the current legislative system was dated and did not reflect technological and sectoral changes. There was, however, still a delay because, on foot of that, a general scheme was drafted but the work was paused pending the creation of the Minister of State's Department.

That is the background. We have got to where we are today with a Bill that, it is to be hoped, will sort out this sector by improving health and safety on building sites and in quarries, and that is to be welcomed. I also welcome that there is no longer a distinction between workers in the construction sector and workers who deal with quarries and so on. The Schedule to the Bill sets out the areas that are covered. As I understand it, we are not talking about craft workers here; we are talking about non-craft workers, and the various areas are clearly set out.

I wish to look also at apprenticeships. As regards Galway City Council, of which I was a proud member for 17 years, I could not say how many apprenticeships it has at the moment. Indeed, I could not say how many workers it has, if it has any left, in respect of maintenance and housing. I live in Claddagh. I will not single out any area. There are houses empty and no workers to carry out works on them. They are waiting for the houses to be bundled together so they can go out to a private company. A particular house I am thinking of has now been empty for three years. I see Deputy Mairéad Farrell nodding. She knows all the houses there. We are not talking about three or four weeks' turnover or even six months' turnover; we are talking about years and the houses are empty. Right in the centre of town the houses are empty. They were identified as houses to be done up or "artisan dwellings". That never happened, of course. I am particularly careful to praise staff. I see how hard they work in local authorities, shoved from department to department, but I find it increasingly difficult to stand over the lack of vision and management in various local authorities, including my own. We talk about empty houses. I see at any given time between 80 and 100 houses empty in Galway and I ask what has happened. We have lost our skilled workers. We have not given opportunities for those on the ground to upskill - and they want to upskill. We have not built up knowledge. That was one of the gaps identified in the report on the analysis of skills for residential construction and retrofitting: the absence of skilled workers and the absence of opportunities to train. I am just using Galway City Council as an example; I am sure the county council is in the same boat but I just do not have the exact figures on that.

I despair to watch a council lose skilled staff, losing every opportunity to upskill them and to be visionary and to lead on empty houses. It is not good for any city to have empty houses. We are told repeatedly that they are a minute percentage of the overall housing stock. That is not a satisfactory answer. If I were there, I would ask what staff we need and how many carpenters, plumbers and new apprentices with new skills in retrofitting we need to deal with this. For the life of me I cannot understand this. I come from a practical background, even though I did not go into a practical career, and I have no idea how this could be allowed to build up, except that part of it was the complete denigration of people who did not go to university and the highlighting and the promoting of IT skills and other skills while we look down gradually on teachers but always on the trades, when we should have been doing the exact opposite. I am talking about skilful people with the ability to solve problems. If we had learnt from them, we would not have got the country into the mess it went into. Notwithstanding that we are talking about transformative change that is necessary as a result of climate change and Covid, I see no evidence of that. I see the old thinking all the time and not transformative change.

Going back to Galway, what if we were seriously interested in dealing with the housing emergency?

It is worse than Dublin. I am on record for saying it is worse than Dublin and yet no significant actions have been taken with regard to tackling that issue. A committee was set up - a task force - over three years ago because of the emergency. It failed to produce a report. I thought that within that report we would have identified the absence of skills and the need for apprenticeships in possibly every public body, certainly in a city and county council, and a whole range of things to show what is possible. None of that has happened.

I will finish by saying I welcome the Bill. It is one tiny aspect with regard to what is needed in terms of apprenticeships. Indeed, that report identifies really huge figures with regard to what is necessary. It points out that there was a drop of more than 300 between 2022 compared with 2021 when the number of apprenticeships went down. That is notwithstanding the work the Minister of State has done, which I acknowledge. Registration is down from 8,607 to 8,286. Of the registrations in 2022, 68% were in construction. The Government's strategy is to achieve 10,000 registrations every year by 2025 as part of its strategy to tackle the housing crisis. That is not happening. We have not reached that figure. Certainly, however, it requires a hands-on approach with regard to local authorities and CEOs, who I prefer to call city managers because I believe they are there to serve the people. They should be asked what they are doing with regard to apprenticeships and housing.

Michael Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Construction Safety Licensing Bill 2023. I know a huge amount of work has been done on this at departmental level. In the first instance, it examines the licensing authority and looks at the various challenges with health and safety within the construction industry. There are a huge number of aspects to the Bill, which include looking at the licensing authorities, their decisions and who they are.

Many contributors have spoken about apprenticeships and how we are going to get more people into the construction industry. That starts at a very young age in trying to get people who are well-handed and very gifted with their hands to see there is a trajectory and a career within the construction industry. It goes without saying in the Dáil that the necessity of that for the benefit of society as a whole is paramount.

There are, however, a number of issues in terms of apprenticeships. While I understand the work the Minister of State, the Department and the Government have been doing heretofore to try to get more people involved in apprenticeships, we really have to look at the public bodies. We recently visited a number of precision engineering companies with Mr. Billy Kelleher MEP. They spoke about how they had ready-made people coming through the now-closed sugar factory in Mallow where they were working with heavy steel, and how there were very good apprenticeships. They were equipped for many challenges in any workforce or any factory floor. We have really to look at how we are going to engage and how we will ensure that young people can see there is a way for apprenticeships right across the spectrum. We are dealing with the construction industry, but we also need to look at this right across the spectrum.

To that end, and I know the Minister of State will be aware of this because it abuts his constituency, the now closed Mannix College in Charleville is a fantastic building in which Cork education and training board, ETB, runs some courses. It has a massive amount of potential in terms of having a college of further education. The ETB is working and has a number of courses there, but it could take an awful lot more. It is in a very central place that we would consider right in the heart of Munster. It has the facilities, which have been provided by the Department of Education and the ETB over the years.

We need to look at people we can train there, however. There are many people who can go back into adult education and be upskilled. I see people who go back to education in the colleges of further education. Some would say it is the Cinderella of the education sector. There is massive potential for people to reskill. Some people have life difficulties or mental health or other issues. If there was a targeted approach to try to get those people back into further education or reskilling, they could do anything they put their minds to. They just need a little bit of confidence to get them over the step and through the college gate on the very first day. It transforms people's lives. I have seen people who have done that and benefitted enormously from it. They go on not only to benefit themselves and their families but contribute hugely to society. There is a built facility that should be looked at and expanded in a way that would target people and try to bring more and more people through the education system. When we look at apprenticeships, we talk predominantly about bringing young people into it. There are also people who may have been manual workers who could be retrained on apprenticeships. They could be reskilled and brought in to fill the deficit.

There are many people out there with disabilities and they, too, can contribute to society, depending on their disability. Every week in the Joint Committee on Disability Matters we look at the challenges and shortcomings in society and the opportunities for people. There is a massive opportunity for people. We really need to think about that as well.

In a previous contribution on the transport initiative, the Minister said that one in seven people have a disability. That equates to the entire population of Connaught. If we look at it like that, that is the population of people we are talking about. That is a huge amount of people who are looking for direction or looking for the ability to try to retrain themselves or train themselves in the first instance. There is a massive opportunity for the State but there is also a massive opportunity for people who could benefit and gain enormously from it.

Going back to the Bill, we are looking at licensing and health and safety regulations and bringing it all together as best we can. There is an awful lot more work to do on it. This is one pivotal piece of legislation and it is universally welcomed. We have to look at the shortcomings, however, and what we need in society going forward.

Much of the time when we look at the issue, we see we have a construction crisis because we do not have the workers. Ten years ago, we had a huge number of people who were unemployed because of the construction crash. We need to think forward. What challenge will face us in ten- or 15-years' time? That is the forward thinking we need in terms of making sure we have the right skills available for people and how we are going to address that. We must look at people coming in with the suitable skill sets and knowledge to do work, and the challenges that are there to try to get the work permits and so forth. These are real-life challenges for companies and for society and industry. They are challenges that need to be met as well. This legislation must also make sure that we are not just talking about the indigenous Irish population, but also the new Irish to make sure they fit comfortably and are accommodated within it.

I will make three points to sum up. We have a massive opportunity within Charleville to develop what was previously known as Mannix College. We could enhance the role the ETB is playing in further education. There is a massive population around there, not just in my own area but in Limerick as well. It could be used as a base, and we could have that skill set. We could bring in people who have not been employed in construction before and upskill them to ensure they are properly trained and that there is a proper regulation for them. I commend the amount of work the Government has done with regard to apprenticeships. There is an awful lot more to be done, however. As a society, we have to show and appreciate the work that is being done by the construction industry.

Too often, we criticise and belittle the industry. There are fantastic tradesmen and craftsmen working their daily trade in specialised industries, house construction and everything else. They must be commended on their work. I ask the Minister of State and the Department to look at disabled people, no matter their disability, and find a role for them. There is a role for everybody in society. We must ensure there is a role for them in apprenticeships. We must consider whether those apprenticeships be further expanded. I commend the Bill to the House and thank the House for the opportunity to speak.

Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputies who spoke during the debate yesterday and today for their contributions and their broad support for the Bill. I will comment on some of the issues related to the Bill.

As I said yesterday, the Construction Safety Licensing Bill will bring important reforms to the safety and health training of our construction workers. The Bill will reform how workers in the construction and quarrying sectors are certified to undertake specific activities, meaning that the sector will be moving away from the current practice, under the construction skills certification scheme and the quarries skills certification scheme, of certificates for life. These schemes currently provide for the training, assessment, certification and registration of non-craft operatives and provide vital skills and knowledge for our construction workers. However, we know from extensive consultations and reviews dating from 2017 up to the current time that there is evidence to support, and indeed an appetite for, the development of a licensing model. To enable this, a licensing authority will be established under this Bill and will oversee the administration of the licensing model I described.

I reiterate that at the moment our construction workforce is more important than ever before. This is borne out across many areas prioritised by the Government, not least Housing for All. Employment in the sector has been increasing since construction sites reopened after the pandemic and new opportunities for training and upskilling in construction careers have come on stream. As of the end of 2022, there were more than 163,000 people employed in the sector, representing 6% of our national workforce.

Deputies spoke about the number of incidents and fatalities in the construction and quarrying sector. This underlines the importance of ensuring workers are skilled in the activities in which they are engaged. It is crucial that workers feel safe carrying out their work and confident that they are receiving the best possible training to enable this.

Deputies also spoke about the importance of securing apprenticeship registrations in craft programmes and encouraging young people in particular. I am happy to advise that in 2022, registrations on construction-related apprenticeship programmes represented almost 68% of all apprenticeship registrations. Furthermore, SOLAS has made great strides in addressing the Covid-related backlog of craft apprentices waiting to access their off-the-job training placements, supported by the ongoing efforts of instructors and educators in training centres and higher education institutions. The continued high registrations across craft programmes demonstrate that there is undoubtedly an appetite for construction careers. Therefore, advancements such as those outlined in this Bill are hugely important to ensure that we continue to attract and produce a competent and well-trained workforce, including through the recognition of foreign qualifications.

The effective performance of our construction sector is crucial to realising this Government's key economic and social objectives and the enactment of the Bill will play a major role in achieving these.

Deputies asked how the licensing model that is to be established will work. Section 4 provides for the Minister to make regulations, including in respect of the licensing model. Section 12 sets out the functions of the licensing authority and Parts 5 and 6 of the Bill provide extensive detail on the new licensing model for workers, tutors and approved training organisations.

Deputies also spoke about the scope of the legislation, with one specific query about whether it will cover scheduled activities which take place on film sets. The definition of "construction work" is provided for in section 3 of the Bill and refers to the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Construction) Regulations 2006 and the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Quarries) Regulations 2008.

The core objectives of this legislation are to raise the standard of health and safety awareness in the construction sector; to establish a licensing authority to oversee a licensing model for workers and tutors, and to act as the competent authority to recognise foreign qualifications; to administer a licence or approval once a candidate has successfully completed their examinations or application; to create offences for fraudulently obtaining a licence or approval; and to establish a register of licensees and approved training organisations. The overall aim of this Bill is to provide a new and comprehensive framework for the licensing of construction- and quarrying-related activities in Ireland. I am happy to engage further with any observations that relate to matters which are within the remit of the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science. I commend the Bill to the House.