I welcome the opportunity to debate Second Stage of the National Training Fund (Amendment) Bill. In progressing this Bill through the Oireachtas, it is vitally important that we ensure the National Training Fund's original principles are maintained. Established in 2000, the National Training Fund has spent more than two decades, as we know, funding training for those in employment and those seeking employment. Identifying and addressing the skills shortage in Ireland's workforce is vital to ensuring we continue to be a competitive nation and able to keep up with our European neighbours. Last week's announcement of an additional 1,100 healthcare places in budget 2026 showcases that addressing skills gaps is a never-ending process and we must be flexible to respond to the changing market positions. The National Training Fund is an inspiring example of effective social partnership, funded by employers and businesses for the mutual benefit of workers and facilitated by Government. It is vital, however, that there is buy-in from all sides. I know that over the past two decades, employers and employees have developed a very positive view of the National Training Fund, seeing it as an effective mechanism for improving Ireland's workforce. We cannot allow this impression to falter and for businesses to feel like the National Training Fund is yet another tax imposed on them with very little benefit to them. As the adage goes, "no taxation without representation". That is why, as Vice Chair of the Oireachtas committee on further and higher education, I am looking forward to inviting in each of the relevant businesses or worker and learner representative groups to the committee to have their say and make sure we have buy-in from all sides on the changes in this legislation. Any changes to the National Training Fund to expand its scope must first include the introduction of guardrails around skills development, which is the purpose of the National Training Fund. We need to ensure the National Training Fund is not that in name only and continues to maintain the intent of the original legislation, which is to raise the skills of those in employment, to provide training for those who wish to acquire the skills for the purpose of taking up employment, and to provide information regarding existing or likely future requirements of the skills economy. It must continue to do what it says on the tin: that is, it must be a fund for training. Having worked in the higher education sector for decades, I have seen first hand how effective targeted investment in the sector can be. I have seen the further education and apprenticeship sector transformed from being an afterthought to a central pillar of our sector. In a side note, I commend the Minister on securing the largest ever single investment in apprenticeships - €79 million in budget 2026. I know this Government has committed to investing in developing skills. This is further evidenced by the commitment of €54.2 million in funding for Skillnet Ireland. Skillnet Ireland does incredible work and has added great value to the skills industry. Since its foundation in 1999, it has developed an extensive number of industry partners and networks. It has supported over 24,000 businesses and more than 90,000 workers in industries from agriculture to aviation. The National Training Fund Act provides for the allocation of funding for research to provide information existing in likely future skill requirements of the economy. A major part of this is the National Training Fund (Amendment) Bill before the House. This is to enable the fund surplus to be unlocked for research and innovation in the likely future skills requirements of this economy. This is an excellent initiative but I would urge the Minister that it should go to support the further research undertaken by Skillnet Ireland to identify the skill shortages in the economy. It has the knowledge, networks and contacts. It already knows where the skills gaps are. It has already done the research to identify the future skills gaps. Let it fill those gaps. Government investment is vital to further developing the skills sector but neither my constituents nor I want to see the Government pay for the same thing twice. That is why any skills research needs to be facilitated through Skillnet Ireland. It has been doing that and doing it well for more than 25 years. There are also opportunities regarding the human capital initiative which, for the past five years, has been funded through the National Training as a pilot programme. This initiative was a target towards increasing the capacity for a skill-focused programme in higher education, designed to fulfil Ireland's priority skill needs. The pilot period has concluded. We need to know details of any follow-up programme, what the Department findings were following the conclusion of the pilot across the three phases and whether any extensions to the programme will be funded through the NFT. The enterprise centres and other initiatives funded through the human capital initiative have provided a great service in areas where we need more skilled people. It would be a shame to see any close now without a follow-up programme put in place. As deputy chair of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, I look forward to getting into the details of the Bill, ensuring the National Training Fund remains fit for purpose and that the original principles of the Act are maintained. The fund also has potential for further developing the apprenticeships sector, as other has commented. Budget 2026 secured the largest ever investment in apprenticeships, though we must acknowledge that without employers there would be no apprenticeships so we need to make these apprenticeships more appealing to employers. We must make sure employers see that hosting apprenticeships are of benefit to them. Multiple contributors to the Oireachtas joint committee, including the perspectives of employers and apprentices, have addressed the need to reconcile the differences between the traditional craft apprenticeships and the new, industry-led consortium apprenticeships. For example, let us talk about the funding of training allowances paid to apprentices during their off-the-job training periods. Funding for the traditional craft apprenticeships is covered by the NTF. This is not a cost to the employer and is consistent across the craft apprenticeships. However, this is not the case for those industry-led consortium programmes. These employers have to bear the costs of this off-the-job training, which is a strong barrier to employers taking on apprenticeships. This is especially true for the SME employers, which we know are the backbone of this sector. From a business perspective, they are paying for the costs of a worker who is not actually directly working for them. To help businesses, especially in times of rising costs and economic instability, we must find every avenue to ensure the apprenticeship programmes are as accessible for businesses as possible. The employers best know the needs of their sectors. They know exactly how many workers they need and the skills those workers need to have. We need to facilitate as many effective employer-led apprenticeships as possible. One way of doing this would be to enable the NTF to cover the costs of the off-the-job training for these apprenticeships. Given the purpose of this Bill is to enable the expenditure of a surplus of over €1 billion held in the NTF, I ask the Minister and his Department consider how else it can help facilitate this important and growing subsector of the apprenticeship sector. I understand why these procedures were initially implemented in the new industry-led consortia. That was to get the sector going. However, we are in a stronger place. We have a greater understanding of how these apprenticeships work. We should address the differences between the traditional craft and the industry-led consortia now we have the opportunity to do it with this new legislation. Along with facilitating employers, in considering this Bill we must look at the possibility of including our many independent institutions. A number of contributors to the Oireachtas joint committee suggested the establishment of a voucher scheme. This would enable the independent institutions to engage with the National Training Fund. This would work through employers applying for a voucher and then, effectively, being able to spend it with whatever institution they choose. One that works for them, as the employer, and for the potential apprentice. This could take into account geographical distances and such options. In the Government's effort to further develop Ireland's educational potential, it would be a mistake to completely ignore the independent and private institutions given that they educate a significant proportion of Ireland's students. If we want to continue to promote our country as a leader in education, we need to do so by including all major players in the sector, not focus solely on our excellent, established national universities, ETBs and other institutions. Over the course of the Bill, I look forward to seeing how the Department and Minister will engage further with these important providers in consideration of these changes to the NTF. I would like to reference a recent report from the Comptroller and Auditor General. This report highlighted that due to supports such as the employment wage subsidy, which was very welcome by employers and included a reduce PRSI rate, actually resulted in over-allocation from the Social Insurance Fund to the National Training Fund. In effect, this means that the NTF has funds that it simply may not be able to disperse for the original purposes of the fund. This highlights how important it is that we are very careful in how we utilise the NTF. It relies solely on these PRSI levies, and any change to Ireland's economic fortunes can significantly impact the fund. After all, the fund was envisioned for innovation and skills and not for the institutions. I commend the Minister's commitment to the further and higher education sector in bringing forward this Bill. Through my work as Fine Gael spokesperson for further and higher education, I have heard many positive comments about the Minister's work and the Department from stakeholders throughout the sector, both from my own direct engagement and also through my work on the Oireachtas joint committee. I look forward to working with the Minister and Minister of State, Deputy Harkin, on this important matter.

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