Michael Collins (Cork South-West, Independent Ireland Party)
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5. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the further actions he intends to take to increase craft apprenticeship participation given the additional funding announced in budget 2026 and the urgent need to increase the number of people qualified in the trades; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56315/25]

Marian Harkin (Sligo-Leitrim, Independent)
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The Government remains firmly committed to apprenticeships and has significantly expanded the opportunities for learners in recent years. We fully recognise the vital role that apprentices play in equipping Ireland’s workforce with the skills needed to meet national priorities. That includes infrastructure delivery. The Minister, Deputy Lawless, and I have prioritised this area and in budget 2026 we secured an additional €79 million investment in apprenticeships. That is the largest investment since the formation of the Department. This investment will directly support the expansion of the craft apprenticeship system and support key trades such as plumbing and electrical, which are essential to delivering the national development plan 2025.

To further support apprentices, €2.5 million was also secured to reduce the cost of attending higher education. Generally we are talking here about phase 4 and phase 6 apprenticeships. What is important is that this will permanently lower fees by 17% for over 14,000 apprentices in the 2025 to 2026 academic year, including more than 11,000 craft apprentices. As can be seen, the Government not only recognises the need to increase the number of apprentices, especially in the craft trades, but we are supporting this objective by ensuing additional funding.

The evidence is there. In recent years, the apprenticeship system has grown significantly. For example, annual craft apprenticeship registrations rose by 63% from 2020 to 2024 and the number of apprentices in construction has risen by 50% between 2020 and 2025.

Michael Collins (Cork South-West, Independent Ireland Party)
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I welcome the recent announcement of funding of €339 million for craft apprenticeships for 2025. It is my understanding that this funding will be used to support the expansion of training places, the recruitment and retention of instructors, and the provision of more places, especially in trades needed for housing infrastructure, including, as the Minister of State said, plumbers and electricians. The recent documentary "Who's Building Ireland?" explored the construction industry and who is building the 300,000 new homes needed by 2030. There are 170,000 people working in the construction industry in Ireland. We need between 30,000 and 40,000 skilled workers to build these homes. How does the Minister of State propose to incentivise the fully trained craftspeople to remain in Ireland once they have finished their apprenticeships?

Marian Harkin (Sligo-Leitrim, Independent)
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As the Deputy said, this funding will increase the numbers of apprentices already here. We see that phase 2 training capacity has increased from 5,600 in 2023 to over 7,000 in 2025 across the country.

He also mentioned the fact that more instructors are being put in place. Over 80 instructors were converted from fixed term to permanent, and that supports retention, which is the question the Deputy asks: how we will retain apprenticeships in this country? It is also worth noting that over 130 new instructors have been recruited.

He can see from that that the Government is determined to grow this sector. Retention of apprentices obviously depends on the work being there. We can see that. There is full employment in the sector. We need more apprentices, and the objective of this Government is to see that that pipeline of apprentices continues to grow.

Michael Collins (Cork South-West, Independent Ireland Party)
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We are depending on migrant workers to build these houses. These workers have come from Poland, Latvia, Moldova, Bolivia, South Africa and other places across the world. As I said, there are 300,000 new homes needed by 2030 and there are 170,000 people working in construction, but 30,000 to 40,000 is a lot of people to be found between now and 2030. All these workers need to be trained. How many years will it take to achieve the number of qualified craftspeople necessary to meet the demand for housing supply?

Marian Harkin (Sligo-Leitrim, Independent)
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The Government's objective is that by 2030 we will have 12,500 apprenticeships in the system. We are already well on track to achieving that, with, I think, about 9,300 last year. The Deputy said we are relying on migrant workers. Certainly, they play an important role in the sector. We are pleased to see that the sector is working but we also have a responsibility to grow the number of apprenticeships. There is our action plan for construction, which is there up to this year, and we are launching a new action plan. Our objective is to ensure that more people, especially women, see apprenticeships as a viable, exciting, interesting career pathway. I use the word "pathway" because it is not just an end in itself; an apprenticeship is a pathway into so many different areas in the construction sector, some on site, some off site. We are working very diligently to get that message across.