My Department continues to oversee the implementation of a priority plan put in place in November 2023 by the National Apprenticeship Office (NAO) to expand apprenticeship capacity and reduce apprentice waiting times for training. As a result, the number of craft apprentices waiting six months or longer for phase 2 off-the-job training has fallen by 79% since the implementation of the NAO plan – from 5,319 in October 2023 to 1,140 in February 2025.
As of the end of February this year, there are 414 Pipefitting apprentices across the country. Of these 414 apprentices, two have completed the necessary minimum of six months at Phase 5 on-the-job training and are currently waiting to be scheduled for Phase 6 training. SOLAS advises that this does not constitute a delay.
Munster Technological University (MTU) provides Phase 6 training for this programme at its Bishopstown campus in Co. Cork and will have an April and September intake in 2025 followed by a January intake in 2026 each with the capacity for 16 places.
Sufficient capacity exists to continue delivering 48 Phase 6 Pipefitting training places in 2024.
The HEA and SOLAS are actively collaborating to monitor training capacity and ensure that the supply of apprenticeship training places remains sufficient.
It should be noted that while employers are obliged to register apprentices within two weeks of the apprenticeship contract being issued, a trial period may be served, and that an apprentice's commencement date with an employer may not always be the registration date of that apprentice.
An apprentice's registration date is the beginning of the minimum 208 weeks to complete a craft apprenticeship. An apprentice can confirm their registration date with their training advisor appointed at induction at any time.
SOLAS cannot comment on the scheduling of an apprentice's next training phase until that apprentice receives pass exam results in their current phase.
