Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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109. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills for an update on the funding cut to apprenticeships in Meath and across the State; his assessment of the practical impact of this cut; the measures he is taking to address this; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37297/25]

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy. We have had a few variations of this discussion over the evening. That is to be expected because there were impacts in different areas in different ways. There has actually been no funding cut to the apprenticeship system in 2025. In fact, investment through the Revised Estimates has increased by €41 million by comparison with the figure for last year. Instead of a funding cut, there has been a funding increase for the system from my Department.

The Government has demonstrated a strong and sustained commitment. Since the formation of my Department, investment in apprenticeship training has increased by 84% from €184 million in 2020 to €339 million in 2025. There was an additional €77 million in the last budget, putting apprenticeships on a scale they were never on before in terms of supports, including practical supports, and the scope and number of courses that can be accessed.

It is the responsibility of SOLAS to work with the individual ETBs to plan their provision within the funding allocation made available by central government. There are complexities. It is a demand-led system but with a finite funding envelope. Funding is allocated on an Estimates basis each year but there is a demand curve. It can be difficult for these to align. It is up to SOLAS to manage this with the ETBs. It has a quite generous budget of over €1 billion and it allocates to the ETBs depending on demand in each area. It is tasked with managing and predicting demand and working with the ETBs to plan in this regard.

Bearing in mind Louth and Meath Education and Training Board, LMETB, which I know is important to the Deputy, issues have been identified with SOLAS at national level. I spoke about these in response to a different question. My Department is working with SOLAS to progress solutions to these by way of supplementary funding. That is going well. There is a need for some further intervention. I am to meet the board of SOLAS on Thursday and I have instructed that no apprenticeships are to be cancelled, but I am confident we will have a resolution quite soon.

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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Is that the case with LMETB or are there specific circumstances in its area? I do not know whether the Minister was going to make a point on that.

The figures I have from the service plan for 2025 show further education and training funding was €87 million and that this was revised on foot of a funding letter down to €73.7 million. That is a cut of in the region of €14 million, by any measure. There are genuine concerns in relation to it.

The Minister mentioned in an earlier response the possibility of a supplementary budget, which I hope will come soon. Is that his intention? Is it his understanding that the figure for the LMETB area is €14 million or such a sum?

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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I do not have to hand a figure for LMETB per se. The overall system has received €41 million more this year than last year. What SOLAS allocates to each ETB is a matter for it. It is devolved from my Department and my control. If LMETB has a figure above or below what was expected, it is between it and SOLAS. The overall budget envelope for which responsibility has been devolved to SOLAS has actually increased.

There is no doubt but that there are issues, however, and these stem from the backlog of apprentices that arose last year and the year before. Many apprentices were on a higher rate of pay than anticipated because they were in the system longer. They have not exited the system and that has caused funding pressures. I am working through that, along with the Minister of State, Deputy Harken, our officials and SOLAS.

I mentioned in response to an earlier parliamentary question that the deadline for December calls to start apprenticeship training is September. That is our window. We need to act. We are acting already and I am confident we will have this addressed, through Supplementary Estimates if needs be, before the deadline.

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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It is really important that these courses proceed and that people be allowed to work their way through the system because we need a conveyor belt of graduates in all courses.

There was a reference earlier to reflection on how we have ended up in this place. None of the students or apprentices has dropped out of the sky; they have been in the system. Has SOLAS dropped the ball? Did the Minister’s predecessor, Deputy O’Donovan, do so? What has gone wrong such that we have ended up as we have? I hope that through the Minister’s and collective efforts, we will get out of this, but it is a serious concern. I wonder what is at the heart of it.

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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My immediate focus is on fixing the problem but I hear what the Deputy is saying. The immediate response is to address the funding gap to ensure no courses are detrimentally impacted to the extent that they would not progress into next year. I have written to the chair of SOLAS to instruct that no apprenticeship classes be cancelled. Once this is resolved – I am confident it will be in the short term – there may need to be some governance amendments and stronger protections within the system to ensure an early warning, far in advance, of issues concerning financial management.

Let me finish on a positive. To an extent, this is a feature of success. The demand for and interest in the apprenticeship route have increased considerably over recent years, to the extent that craft registrations, for example, amounted to 7,100 despite the 6,800 forecast. This is mirrored across most of the cohorts. Therefore, we have more people who want to do apprenticeships than ever before.