Government promises on apprenticeships are ‘nothing more than hot air’, Sinn Féin say

Sinn Féin Finance spokesman Pearse Doherty said there was now a situation whereby 9,000 construction trainees are waiting to complete their off-the-job training.

They are "incredible people who want to become fully qualified bricklayers, plumbers, carpenters and electricians," Mr Doherty said.

"These are the people who want to help resolve the housing crisis, but because this Government took its eye off the ball, it is taking far longer for them to get qualified."

The backlog means that a four-year apprenticeship can now take up to six years to complete – meaning people doing the same work, equally competently, can see a qualified person earning double their colleague who is awaiting official certification.

Mr Doherty gave the example of one apprentice electrician who has been waiting 18 months to get called for phase two off-the-job training. "And this fellow has three children to support."

Many others were waiting over two years for the same necessary training, and there were similar delays with phase four and phase six before apprentices become fully qualified.

But Tánaiste Micheál Martin replied that "nobody has taken their eye off the ball," and said there was a task force formed last October to tackle the issue.

The backlog in training had been caused by Covid-19, he said, "but it is reducing, and apprenticeship registrations are up year on year".

Last year's numbers were up 5pc on 2022, which itself was up 41pc on 2019, he said.

"So there has been a very significant change in respect of people signing up for a craft apprenticeship,” Mr Martin said.

All stakeholders had formed a task force last October and developed a cross-sectoral plan to address the backlog in training, he said.

"I was surprised you didn't reference that. The response plan means that the backlog has reduced by the end of March of this year to 3,460 made up of 3,347 awaiting phase two, and others the later phases." Additional funds had been secured for expedited apprenticeship delivery, he said, with €300 million provided in total.