Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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41. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the progress made on policy measure 2.10 of ‘Our Living Islands Action Plan 2023-2026’ to work with partners to actively promote apprenticeships and skilled trades as a valuable career path and ensure appropriate responses are in place to enhance capacity of the education and training system to meet green skills and construction skills needs of the islands; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14547/25]

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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Green and sustainability-focused skills in construction are essential for meeting this Government’s ambitious climate targets set out in the Climate Action Plan as well as to meet needs of the islands.

In keeping with policy measure 2.10 of the ‘Our Living Islands Action Plan 2023-2026’, which aims to actively promote apprenticeships and skilled trades as a valuable career path and ensure appropriate responses are in place, my Department directly supports a broad range of initiatives to ensure that workers are equipped with the skills required to meet these challenges through national initiatives that would also meet the green skills and construction skills needs of the islands.

Apprenticeship is a key vehicle for this work. Working with SOLAS, we are ensuring that the apprenticeship system meets the evolving and emerging needs of the green economy. Approximately 40% of all apprenticeships, 31 programmes, are construction or construction-related. By the end of 2024, the population on these programmes was 21,895, a 66% increase on the 2019 pre-Covid figure.

In addition, apprenticeship curricula are being updated to include alternative energy and retrofit skills and technologies. Alternative energies have now been included within the Plumbing and Electrical Apprenticeship curricula, while Nearly Zero Energy Buildings (NZEB) standards are embedded in the Carpentry & Joinery curriculum.

Complementing this work, upskilling courses for existing construction workers are offered in NZEB/retrofit, through a network of six Centres of Excellence operated by Education and Training Boards (ETBs). This includes ETBs which include island and coastal communities within their remit, namely, Cork ETB, Mayo, Sligo & Leitrim ETB and Limerick Clare ETB. These centres offer free, fast, and flexible courses, to boost the skills and training needs of the sustainable construction sector. Enrolments have been increasing year on year, with 2024 the most successful year to date with 7,166 enrolments, up from 363 in 2020, the first year of operation.

My Department has also published the Careers in Construction Action Plan in August 2023. This plan aims to minimise barriers to construction careers, including apprenticeships, promote opportunities, and attract more people to the sector.

To assist in the promotional goals of the action plan, funding was granted for a range of initiatives under the 2024 Housing for All Implementation Fund, with a further €550,000 granted to allow for the continuation of communications initiatives throughout 2025.

Many of these communication campaign activities specifically focused on promoting construction apprenticeships in highlighting the available opportunities.

These campaigns include the “Building Heroes” social media campaign and the National Apprenticeship Office’s “Facts, Faces, Futures" campaign, these campaigns specifically focus on promoting construction apprenticeships and highlighting the available opportunities.

Additionally, the Future Building initiative involves a dedicated team from Intreo, SOLAS, and the ETBs supporting recruitment and training for the construction industry, including apprenticeships, through regional events.

These national efforts to promote apprenticeships and enhance green and construction skills capacity, supported by my Department and implemented through ETBs and other partners, contribute directly to the objectives of policy measure 2.10 by providing opportunities to acquire these valuable green and construction skills to meet the needs of the islands.