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Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 16 December 2025

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Tuesday, 16 December 2025

Questions (1174, 1175)

Thomas Gould

Question:

1174. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the number of apprentices, by phase, in Cork, in tabular form. [72121/25]

Thomas Gould

Question:

1175. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the average time it took, from Phase 1 to completion, to complete each apprenticeship in Cork, by trade in 2025 to date, in tabular form. [72122/25]

Written answers

Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1174 and 1175 together.

Apprentices are employees and are registered by their employers in the Education and Training Board (ETB) region in which the employer is located. This means the apprentice may not necessarily reside in or be originally from that region, and an apprentice who does live in that region could be registered at another ETB.

The below table shows the number of craft apprentices, by phase, currently registered via Cork Education and Training Board (CETB) to complete an apprenticeship. Apprenticeships are national programmes. Apprentices registered at CETB may conduct their ‘off-the-job training’ at national centres outside of this region based on their apprenticeship, availability of courses and position on the national waiting list, where applicable. It should be noted that this data is as per 11 December 2025.

Craft apprentices, by phase, currently registered via CETB

Phase 1	Phase 2	Phase 3	Phase 4	Phase 5	Phase 6	Phase 7	Total
841	366	824	51	727	15	307	3,131

SOLAS, the state agency responsible for further and higher education, has advised that data cannot be provided detailing completion times for apprentices in Cork specifically. The current median time to completion across the craft apprenticeship system is 227 weeks. The mandatory time for craft apprenticeship certification is a minimum of 208 weeks and process times for validation of craft certification can take up to 12 weeks.

Question No. 1175 answered with Question No. 1174.

Question No. 1176 answered with Question No. 1165.

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