Aindrias Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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828. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his plans on expanding on the current training centres nationwide to provide the in-class training modules under apprenticeship programmes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29800/24]

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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My department is continuing to oversee the implementation of a plan put in place by the National Apprenticeship Office (NAO) to significantly expand apprenticeship capacity at training centres nationwide.Substantial resources have been invested in the apprenticeship system via Budget 2024 and capital investment in 2023 to;• support staff,• expand apprenticeship provision in current facilities,• help develop new facilities, and• purchase required equipment.

As part of the NAO’s plan to expand apprenticeship capacity, a recruitment campaign to engage craft instructors was launched by SOLAS and the NAO in November 2023. This involves national advertising and recruiting the aim of which is to support delivery and increase Phase 2 capacity in Further Education.

The National Apprenticeship Office allocated €149,000 to a recruitment advertising budget.

To date, 134 instructor posts have been sanctioned by the Department and 61 posts have been filled. Additionally, 80+ instructor posts were converted from fixed term to permanent.

At present, 18 posts are in progress/advertised or going through the selection process.

Further posts will be advertised as capital projects come on stream across the rest of 2024 and into Quarter 1 2025.

Since the implementation of the plan, the number of Craft Apprentices waiting over 6 months or longer for their Phase 2 off-the-job training has decreased from 5,319 in October 2023 to 2827 in June 2024. The capacity of Education and Training Boards to deliver apprenticeship places has grown from 5,600 places in December 2023 to over 7,500 in June 2024.

As I mentioned, there has been considerable investment in the apprenticeship system. During Estimates 2024, €67 million was allocated to grow the system. To tackle the apprenticeship backlog, Regarding capital funding, in the immediate pandemic period, €12 million was allocated to support additional classes and teaching capacity to ameliorate Covid-19 measures, and €6 million was invested to provide additional instructor posts.Further sums of €20 million (in 2021), €17.2 million (in 2022) and €17 million (in 2023) in capital expenditure were allocated to SOLAS and the Higher Education Authority to facilitate additional Craft Apprenticeship places across the system, and a targeted response to the craft backlog.

To end of April 2024, €648,000 has been spent, with further expenditure on workshops/equipment in the pipeline.

It remains my priority to maintain this momentum, to continue growing the apprenticeship system, and ensure that there are enough training places for current and future skills needs.