Donna McGettigan (Clare, Sinn Fein)
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1. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the progress being made with regard to the current challenges in the apprenticeship system; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14864/25]

Donna McGettigan (Clare, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister for taking my question this morning. The apprenticeship system is unfit for purpose and has been for several years now. What measures does the Minister intend to introduce to address the problems faced by apprentices and the system more generally? These have resulted in the system failing to produce qualified tradespeople at a pace that meets demand. These problems have plagued the system and previous Ministers have failed to address them. What reassurance will the Minister give us that they will be addressed during the Minister's term in office?

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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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.

Donna McGettigan (Clare, Sinn Fein)
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While I agree that measures have been made into the phase 2, will this not push the backlog back into phases 4 and 6? We have a drop out rate of 3,400. Have they been included in the Minister's figures as well? When that number of people drop out, it shows that it is unfit for purpose.

The apprenticeship system is essential to problems the Government has yet to address. Consider the issue of housing. Skilled apprentices who are needed here to work on housing and other essential projects for the future are emigrating abroad to do their apprenticeships. Are those figures included? They tell us that they have no choice but to go abroad. Apprenticeships here are supposed to take four years but in reality they can take up to six years. This also leads to the system being unfit for purpose. This leaves apprentices working for extra years, sometimes at pay that is below minimum wage. There is a serious shortage of places for them to complete the classroom portion of the training.

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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Let us consider the result of the measures I spoke about, the additional €67 million, the subsequent €77 million, the additional 110 instructors and the 80 instructors converted onto different types of contracts bringing an additional 190 instructors into the system. This has meant that craft training places have increased by 43%. That brought places from 5,600 at the end of 2023 when the backlog was identified to more than 8,000 places in 2025, that is, in the current year. The Deputy mentioned people waiting for periods. The number of craft apprentices now waiting for more than six months for the phase 2 off-the-job training has actually fallen by almost 80%, from 5,319 in October 2023 to 1,140 in February 2025. That is a decrease of some 5,500 to roughly just over 1,000. That is a significant 80% drop. I do want to give some credit to the system for working through that.

With regard to people dropping out I will have to interrogate those figures and see the situation there. We are in a period of full employment in a burgeoning economy and people have many options. Some may choose to pursue other options at that stage.

Donna McGettigan (Clare, Sinn Fein)
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How many of those in these figures are actually finishing? There are 3,376 who failed to finish because they are not getting paid enough. The programme for Government states that the Government would "Ensure a skilled labour force by providing practical support for on-the-job training and apprenticeship schemes and consider additional measures". Has that process begun? At what stage is the process and what additional measures are currently under consideration? The Government also promised additional funding for apprenticeship training institutions. Will the Minister tell us how much funding is being allocated and when it will be available? The programme for Government further commits to target 12,500 new apprenticeships annually by 2030 and to introduce a new five-year apprenticeship action programme for 2026 to 2030. Has that commenced? Will the Minister outline the specific target numbers for each of the intervening years?

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy. A review is ongoing across the whole sector. There are many different types of apprenticeships now. There are the craft apprenticeships, which are related to construction skills, there are climate skills and apprenticeships for accounting technician and digital marketing - and my Department has a number of staff working in that apprenticeship - so it is very much a broader and more diverse sector and spectrum that might traditionally have been the case. They all play important roles. With regard to suggestions, I invite the Deputy to put forward suggestions. I am all ears. I am a new Minister. I am here to work with colleagues around the House so if the Deputy has any suggestions for improvement, I am open to hearing them. I look forward to that debate, and from all colleagues in the House going forward.