Written answers
Tuesday, 29 July 2025
Department of Education and Skills
Apprenticeship Programmes
Maeve O'Connell (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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3383. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to report the amount of funding allocated in the National Training Fund to provide craft apprenticeships to fill reported gaps in the construction sector. [42609/25]
James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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My Department secured a significant investment in apprenticeship of €67 million in Budget 2024, which together with a further increase of €77 million in Budget 2025 has brought apprenticeship funding to €339 million in 2025.
This €339 million figure consists of €92 million for the Higher Education Authority, €236 million for SOLAS and €10 million for the National Apprenticeship Office.
This investment supports the strong and growing demand for craft apprenticeship programmes, which are central to addressing workforce needs in key national priorities such as housing, retrofitting, and infrastructure delivery. Since 2019, annual registrations have increased by 35%, rising from 5,271 in 2019 to 7,113 in 2024. The total number of craft apprentices has grown from 16,000 in 2019 to 25,000 by the end of 2024.
The Government remains committed to expanding apprenticeship opportunities further, with a target of 12,500 annual registrations by 2030, two-thirds of which will be in craft and construction-related areas.
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