Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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13. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of craft apprentices waiting for off-the-job training; the steps he has taken to address the backlogs in the system; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39992/24]

Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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How many craft apprentices are waiting for off-the-job training and what steps have been taken to address the backlogs in the system? I ask the Minister of State to make a statement be made on the matter.

Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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Our Department continues to oversee the implementation of the plan put in place by the National Apprenticeship Office in November 2023 to significantly increase apprenticeship capacity, responding to rising craft apprenticeship demand as a result of our buoyant economy. In budget 2024, €67 million was allocated to apprenticeship, on top of which our Department reprioritised a further €30 million on a temporary basis in order to address the apprenticeship backlog. This investment enabled the recruitment of 87 apprentice instructor staff, with three more offers in progress, and supported the significant expansion of apprenticeship provision in training facilities.

In 2024, SOLAS also mandated the ETBs to deliver three intakes of apprenticeship delivery per workshop. As a direct result of these actions, there has been a 34% increase in craft training capacity in ETBs so far in 2024, increasing from 5,600 places in December 2023 to more than 7,500 currently. I am pleased to say that the number of craft apprentices waiting six months or longer for phase 2 off-the-job training has more than halved since the implementation of the National Apprenticeship Office plan, falling from 5,319 in October 2023 to 2,484 in August 2024. Craft apprenticeship takes four years to complete. The Department is initiating a review of the optimum craft apprenticeship training timelines within those four years. In budget 2025 we have just announced €77.4 million funding for apprenticeship, the single largest core investment into the apprenticeship system since the formation of the Department, demonstrating our priority to deliver enough training places for industry skills needs today and tomorrow and support this Government's targets in housing and retrofitting.

Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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The 34% increase in craft training capacity is welcome. The Minister of State said the number of people waiting six months or longer for craft apprenticeships has now halved. SOLAS appeared before the education committee on a number of occasions. At the most recent meeting, SOLAS stated it hoped the backlogs would be caught up with by 2025. Will the Minister of State clarify if that is still the case? How are we trending going into 2025 in terms of dealing with the backlog specifically?

Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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The normal waiting times for off-the-job training in the education and training boards range from three to six months. Any apprentices waiting longer than six months for phase 2 training are part of the phase 2 backlog and considered to be waiting overlong for training. In July 2023, 6,166 apprentices were waiting six months or longer. In August 2024, that figure had dropped to 2,484. We are doing everything we can to try to address the backlog. We launched a recruitment campaign across several media channels in November 2023. The campaign used a centralised National Apprenticeship Office platform for applications and added to that a new advanced block approval process for the posters put in place. The approval process was delivered through our Department and the Department of Education. The National Apprenticeship Office allocated €149,000 for a recruitment advertising campaign. To date, more than 166 instructor posts have been sanctioned and more than 76 have been filled.

Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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Does the Minister of State have any information on the average completion time for craft traineeships? If not, perhaps he could follow up with a written answer. As he said, there are delays from time to time for people who are waiting for their placement or block release. Typically, a course or traineeship may take four years, as the Minister of State stated. Is there any analysis of how long it is taking to train a carpenter, an electrician or whatever craft it may be? Averaged out, do the delays in block release mean that, rather than four years, it is taking five years, six years or whatever the case may be to train an electrician? Does the Minister of State have specific details on the number of people on waiting lists in Cork and the number waiting six months or more?

Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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I will ask officials in the Department to furnish the Deputy with the information he requires. I do not have the details on a national level or at micro level regarding Cork. I will ask those to be furnished to the Deputy as well.