I thank the Deputy for his question. The Government's commitment to expanding apprenticeship opportunities is delivering strong results. My Department secured €79 million additional investment through budget 2026, bringing the total investment for apprenticeships to over €410 million, more than double the level of 2020. This investment has supported significant growth with annual registrations rising by 78% from just over 5,000 in 2020 to well over 9,000 in 2025. The question relates to apprenticeship participation across the public sector and this is a very specific priority for the Government. The public service apprenticeship plan, a deliverable under the Department's action plan for apprenticeship, which will soon be released, and the better public services strategy of the Department of public expenditure, sets a target of 750 annual public service apprentice registrations. A co-ordinated set of actions from both Departments was put in place to assist employers in meeting apprenticeship targets. This included the establishment of leadership and working groups, employer engagement activities and practical supports such as the guide for employing apprentices in the public service, as well as promotional activities. While the target of 750 annual registrations has not yet been met, uptake increased from 67 in 2022 to 286 in 2025, demonstrating momentum and a foundation for continued expansion. The establishment of new apprenticeship programmes, such as social work, has been central to the increase achieved. In addition, earlier this week, together with the Ministers, Deputies Lawless, Chambers and Calleary, I launched a new business and operations apprenticeship, which will open up new pathways for careers in the public service.
Sentiment score: 0.39
The new business and operations apprenticeship will open up new pathways, beginning with the Civil Service, as well as contributing towards the overall target of 12,500 new apprentice registrations. There are other relevant programmes, including paramedic, spatial planning and data analytics. Information on public service apprenticeship uptake is not available prior to 2022 so I do not have figures prior to that. Regarding the figures Deputy Kenny is looking for with regard to public service apprenticeship numbers, back in 2022 the total number was 373. Last year, 2025, it was 566, and the annual registrations increased from 67 to 286. We can see a real increase in the numbers across the public service and Civil Service.
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The point Deputy Kenny has made is very important. We have a number of programmes, especially in construction, and I will come back to the public service in a minute. One of our best programmes was a social media programme, Building Heroes, whereby 15 young men and women in the construction industry were involved in a social media campaign so that young people could see what it was like to be involved in these jobs. Yes, there are challenges with getting the messages out through schools but things are improving significantly. More and more career guidance teachers are becoming involved. Sometimes it is a teacher in a school who has a specific interest and can encourage students on this pathway. From this perspective, the Department is making every effort to advertise these programmes. I can say there are plenty of applications for the public service apprenticeships, and this is really where these apprenticeships are for now.
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The Deputy did bring this to my attention previously. I assure him that there have been no cuts to GRETB's core funding allocation. My Department remains committed to supporting a further education and training, FET, system that enables individual success, supports economic growth and strengthens communities, underpinned by almost €1.1 billion in current funding for ETBs in 2026. In 2026, GRETB's core allocation is €65.7 million. That is an extra €4.3 million relative to what was delivered 2025. In fact, it is an increase of over 34% to what was delivered in 2020. There are, therefore, no cuts to the allocation. I understand what the Deputy is referring to, however, which is the conclusion of what was temporary emergency funding that was introduced following the outbreak of war in Ukraine in 2022. As I said, that was time-limited, temporary funding, but it did significantly expand ESOL provision for a fixed time period to meet exceptional demand. As was always intended, the temporary funding has now concluded, and ESOL funding has reverted to its pre-2022 core funding, which is in line with the parameters for budget 2026. While I acknowledge that the ending of these temporary supports presents challenges for some ETBs, it is important to be clear that this does not constitute a reduction in the overall ETB budget.
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The point I made earlier is that there is no cut to the GRETB budget. In fact, it has significantly increased this year from last year. It is also important to say that while ESOL provision has reverted to pre-2022 levels before the Ukraine war, when it was significantly expanded on a temporary basis, ESOL continues to be delivered nationally as part of core funding. It is not that we have stopped it; it is just that we have gone back to the pre-2022 levels. Of course, ETBs have to manage within the budgets that are allocated to them, but GRETB has an extra €4 million this year. As the Deputy said, while it may impact on Spanish students and otherwise, it is important to remember that this was a temporary expansion and it followed the outbreak of the war in Ukraine.
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I accept the Deputy's bona fides on this, and I hear what he says. However, I cannot emphasise often enough that there are no cuts here. There is an increase of €4 million in the budget. Each ETB has to decide how they spend their individual budgets, within certain parameters, obviously. ESOL programmes are simply going back to pre-2022 levels. We have seen similar tapering off of supports across other Departments. This was an emergency fund because of the Ukraine war and now, we are going back to where we were beforehand. I understand what the Deputy is saying to me, however. If he contacts me, I will get him as best an answer as I can. I cannot emphasise firmly enough, however, that it is up to individual ETBs. Each of them gets its funding. GRETB had a significant increase in funding and it is up to it how it spends that funding. I am, however, willing to speak to the Deputy about it to see if we can find any solutions.
Sentiment score: 0.10