Marian Harkin (Sligo-Leitrim, Independent)

I thank Senator Nelson Murray for her question on this important issue for my Department. I thank the Senator for what she said about furniture making in Navan. People of my generation are very aware of how important that was and still is.

To answer the Senator's question, under our action plan for apprenticeships 2021 to 2025 a key objective is to ensure that apprenticeships will be recognised and valued by employers all across the economy. It is great to hear of the furniture industry's interest in being part of a new apprenticeship programme. While there is not currently a specific upholstery and furniture making apprenticeship, the existing wood manufacturing and finishing apprenticeship offered by six different education providers, including the Louth-Meath Education and Training Board, trains apprentices on skills that are relevant to many aspects of furniture design and manufacture. Qualified apprentices from the wood manufacturing and finishing programme can cut, shape and join wood and wood-based products using woodworking machines, power tools and hand tools and can manufacture household furniture items including chairs, table and doors. There are 411 apprentices on this programme nationally. A major strength of the apprenticeship programme is the strong bond between industry, education and the training system. Working with the National Apprenticeship Office, NAO, which has responsibility for all aspects of the management, oversight and development of the apprenticeship system, industry sectors can develop and establish new apprenticeships that address critical skills needs.

If the furniture industry wishes to submit an application to establish a specific furniture making and upholstery apprenticeship, it can do this through the National Apprenticeship Office, following the ten-step process for setting up new programmes. The NAO is very open to proposals from industry sectors where there is an ongoing skills requirement and where the work-based approach is particularly suited to the apprenticeship model. The first step is to make the initial proposal setting out the evidence industry-wide to show where the skills needs are. That has to be evidenced by support from 15 to 20 employers. For the application to succeed, it has to be shown from the start that there is no significant curriculum overlaps of more than 50% with any existing programmes.