Grace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)
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875. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to detail the work of his Department on achieving a greater gender balance in apprenticeships; the take-up of the supports to help achieve a better balance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13382/25]

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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A key pillar of this department's Action Plan for Apprenticeship 2021-2025 focusses on ensuring that the apprenticeship population more closely reflects the profile of the general population, which includes improving gender balance.

As part of the implementation of the Action Plan for Apprenticeship, a €2,666 grant was made available to employers from January 2022 of any national apprenticeship programme with a greater than 80% representation of a single gender who employ apprentices on the under-represented gender.

In 2024 and 2025, 47 of the 77 apprenticeship programmes available qualified for the gender bursary, all but one of which were in relation to females, with the exception being in Hairdressing, in which males qualify.

My Department also launched the Building Heroes social media campaign in 2024 which was aimed at dispelling the myths surrounding careers in construction and encouraging female participation, reaching more than 3.5 million people.

The National Apprenticeship Office has been promoting female participation though the Facts, Faces, Futures campaign, which launched in 2023. This aims to increase the number of women in craft apprenticeships through engaging directly with all girls’ schools around the country. Facts, Faces, Futures is ongoing, with fresh impetus added each year as more apprenticeship programmes are added.

As a direct result of all of these actions, female registration figures for apprenticeships have increased significantly. As of end-February 2025, there are 2,603 female apprentices, approximately 9% of the overall apprentice population, a 70% increase since the end of 2021, the year the Action Plan for Apprenticeship 2021-2025 was launched.

Grace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)
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876. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the work of his Department with stakeholders regarding the use and adoption of modern methods of construction; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13383/25]

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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I wish to thank the Deputy for her question, and the opportunity to inform the House about the work my Department is undertaking with sectoral partners to advance the use of modern methods of construction, or MMC.

Greater adoption of MMC, an umbrella term for a range of innovative construction processes, is a key pillar of the Government’s approach to increasing innovation and increasing housing productivity.

The October 2024 report An Update to theReport on the Analysis of Skills for Residential Construction and Retrofitting estimates that 10,000 fewer new entrants will be required in the sector if there is a widespread adoption of MMC. Ireland will need almost 69,000 new entrants, compared to almost 79,000 if we continue using more traditional building methods.

Advancing MMC is a key commitment in the Programme for Government and my Department works with sectoral partners such as SOLAS, Education and Training Boards (ETBs), the National Construction Training Centre (NCTC), and Skillnet Ireland to increase MMC skills supply across the tertiary system.

Upskilling and reskilling workers is a priority for the construction industry and the sector is being supported to ensure the workforce has the appropriate skills to increase MMC adoption. €2.7m was allocated to construction skills in Budget 2025.

My Department is collaborating with the NCTC, managed by Laois–Offaly Education and Training Board (LOETB), to increase MMC skills provision. In February 2025, LOETB launched its MMC Skills Pathway Portfolio. With a comprehensive suite of accredited courses, flexible online learning options, and a pipeline of new qualifications, LOETB and the NCTC are ensuring that Ireland’s workforce develops MMC skills and expertise.

A National Demonstration Park for MMC is a key deliverable in Housing for All and is being developed at the NCTC. This will provide an accessible flagship location for MMC demonstration and specialist training. Construction on the Park will begin this year.

The Department is also partnering with Skillnet Ireland to develop the ‘Skillnet MMC Accelerate’ online platform. This resource will highlight MMC projects, career pathways and education and training provision. Since September 2024, a series of regional events have been held to promote the platform and to drive and promote MMC to the sector.

The adoption of MMC is also an inter-departmental endeavour and my Department is represented on the MMC Leadership & Integration Group chaired by DETE, as well as the Timber in Construction Steering Group chaired by DECC.

Wider stakeholder collaboration is also vital. In July 2024, the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs (EGFSN) published a report which identifies projected future MMC skills requirements in Ireland. In response, the Department is developing an action plan for MMC, which is due to be published shortly and is based on extensive consultations with industry representatives, training providers, Departments, and agencies. The comprehensive action plan will support the transition to MMC by adapting the skills of existing, and training new, workers across the supply chain.

As part of its stakeholder collaboration process, the Department also held a workshop in March 2025 to hear directly from small - and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) about what supports would encourage them to adopt MMC. This workshop is informing what the Department can do in formulating a policy response to further assist SMEs.

My Department is also working to increase the number of people employed in the construction sector by highlighting diverse career opportunities, including new and emerging careers through MMC. A range of promotional activities includes:

• the Building Heroes peer-to-peer social media campaign, which has been viewed by 3.5m people to date. One of the Building Heroes is an MMC Quality Assurance technician;
• a Careers in Construction documentary which has been distributed to second-level schools. One of the three participants works in the MMC space;
• a documentary on MMC which is close to completion and will highlight the role MMC can play in tackling challenges around housing;
• An MMC Building Heroes documentary is to be developed which will showcase careers in MMC.