Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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138. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills further to Parliamentary Question No. 728 of 9 May 2023, the details of any engagement he or his Department has had with local authorities around the country in 2022 and to date in 2023 with a view to increasing the number of apprenticeships in local authorities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26561/23]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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A key commitment of the ‘Action Plan for Apprenticeship 2021-2025’ is to grow the number of apprenticeship registrations across the public service, including local authorities, to reach 750 annual registrations by 2025. This represents in excess of a seven-fold increase on 2020 registrations and will support a long-term goal of 7% of the apprentice population being employed by public service employers.

My Department’s officials have undertaken a number of actions in order to make progress towards achieving this commitment:

• A number of information sessions on apprenticeship were held late last year with notable/good attendance by representatives of the local authorities.
• The Working Group established to represent Government Departments and agencies and local authorities, continues to support the development of a Public Service Apprenticeship Recruitment Plan.
• The results of a 2022 survey of public service organisations have now been analysed and a Public Service Apprenticeship Recruitment Plan, informed by the survey results, is currently in the final stages of being drafted.