Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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87. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he is aware that apprentices in Cork are being offered phases in Galway; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27051/24]

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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Apprenticeship scheduling is carried out on a national basis by the coordinating provider.

As far as possible, apprentices are scheduled to the nearest available training location relative to their home location on the day of scheduling.

If a placement is not available near an apprentices home location, they may be called to the next nearest available location.

Apprentices are notified during their induction period that there is potential for them to be called to other counties for training.

Not all programmes are available in every location. This may also necessitate the requirement for a learner to travel to other areas.

Where a learner on a craft programme is travelling out of their home region, an accommodation allowance is made available to them. Apprentices on consortia-led programmes do not receive a training allowance from the State while on off-the-job training, as all payments are the sole responsibility of the employer.

An apprentice may decline a scheduling call to a particular location and be returned to the National Waiting List for future scheduling. An apprentice can arrange this by contacting their designated Authorised Officer in their Educational Training Board, who was assigned to them on their induction day.