Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for his follow-up response. We are committed to supporting a balanced further and higher education system which has a multitude of pathways for learners to follow. The action plan for apprenticeships sets out new ways of structuring funding and promoting apprenticeship, with a target of 10,000 apprenticeship registrations per year by 2025. In 2021, a record 8,607 new apprentices were registered, an almost 40% increase on the figures in 2019, the last normal pre-pandemic year.

We are working to strengthen the further education and training system under the strategy for the sector. It is important that capacity in the higher education sector is not increased in a way that undermines this work. That gets to the heart of the Senator's point about sustainability, namely that whatever increase in places we have is sustainably funded. People do not just enter into first year; they are there for the long haul. The Senator mentioned medicine, which can involve six or seven years of education.

If a significant number of places are provided in the further and higher education system in ways that are not sufficiently targeted, learners may end up migrating away from further education offerings that represent better learning options for them and provide superior career opportunities. This has the potential to impact on retention and success rates. We will continue to work to ensure our education system expands in a sustainable and balanced way that ensures a pathway in education is available to all who want and need it. That is at the heart of what the Senator has spoken about today and what we and the Minister, Deputy Harris, need to do to get this right. In terms of the additional places for which there is demand, we want there to be an array of different education options that are adequately funded so that people can see a pathway through when they choose one.