Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator. She has shown a great interest in this matter, apprenticeships and the like since becoming a Member.

My best guesstimate is around the month of October but certainly before the end of the year. We are working to make sure that the Safe Pass registration process fully transitions online by the end of the year. I know that the initiative will be very welcome having spoken to representatives of the industry, education providers and people undertaking these courses. In addition, we will bring proposals to overhaul the legislation to Cabinet in the next two weeks. Subject to the timetable of committees in these Houses, we will begin to move through that legislation later this year.

There is an opportunity to modernise by moving the current system online this year and starting to overhaul the legislation this year. We look forward to working with the Senator on the matter. Once we have published the legislation in two weeks, we will be very pleased to give her a full briefing and engage with industry partners on this matter.