Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 28 April 2026
1300. Deputy Shónagh Ní Raghallaigh asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the average time it took from phase 1 to completion for each apprenticeship, by trade, in County Kildare in 2025, in tabular form. [30441/26]
View answerApprenticeships are national programmes. The mandatory duration for a craft apprenticeship, from commencement of training to completion, is a minimum of 208 weeks, with a further period of up to 12 weeks required to process the apprenticeship certificate. The median time to certification across the craft apprenticeship system was 227 weeks in 2025, down from 239 weeks in 2024.
SOLAS, the State agency for further education and training, has advised that the requested data cannot be provided for apprentices in county Kildare specifically.
The attached table provides the median time to certification nationally for each of the 25 craft apprenticeships in 2025.
As Minister, I have prioritised investment for apprenticeship, and I secured an additional €79 million investment for apprenticeship delivery in Budget 2026. This brings total annual funding for apprenticeship delivery to over €410 million in 2026, more than double the €184 million invested in 2020, the year in which my department was established. This continued investment and commitment to apprenticeship delivery has delivered clear results. Annual apprenticeship registrations have grown by 78% in recent years, rising from 5,326 in 2020 to 9,461 in 2025.
