Pre-covid training capacity of 10,000 has now expanded to 18,000
The Government’s target is 12,500 new apprentice registrations annually
Craft apprentices earn an average €49,000 two years after qualifying
By Niall Gormley
Ireland’s on-off relationship with apprenticeships has just passed an important milepost. After many years of neglect when the focus of the education system seem to be solely on higher education, degrees and university building, we decided that we needed to perhaps take a step back from the theoretical to the practical.
The crisis in practical skills became apparent when we didn’t have enough skilled labour to build houses, even if we wanted to, and the nightmare for the ordinary householder in locating a plumber or electrician.
We had/have an attitude problem. Cutting wires or cutting pipes was so last year. But at the same time many degrees were not leading to good careers while academic study does not suit a lot of people.
Across the west there are big debates about how to fund education and whether saddling young people with massive loans as they embark on their careers is really a good, or fair, idea.
What if we had a work-as-you-learn system, where people picked up skills and experience, and a mixture of classroom and real-world settings?
Our apprenticeship system was always there but had fallen victim to under-investment and neglect. As the economy began to recover from the Great Recession there was almost universal agreement that the apprenticeship system needed to be revitalised and expanded.
A renewed political and commercial interest promised outcomes covering education from Level 5 to Level 10 and into new areas of the economy.
Plan for growth
In the late teens a plan was drawn up, the Action Plan for Apprenticeship, 2021-2025, which would focus on the principles laid out in the box on the next page. The Oireachtas has now carried out a comprehensive review of how the plan has worked and has recently published a report into its finding and recommendations.
The Joint Committee on Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science’s Report on Apprenticeships, February 2026, is available online, as is the submissions of over 70 interested stakeholders from private industry and trade unions, to ETB’s and State bodies.
Over the period of the plan there has been significant growth in all areas of apprenticeships. A lot of the figures and analysis are skewed somewhat by the covid pandemic which interrupted the broad economy and the education system.
In money terms the investment in apprenticeships in 2019, the last full year before the covid pandemic, was €142m. By 2025 this had grown to €339m.
Over the Plan’s 5-year lifespan the total allocation to apprenticeship was €1.33bn compared to €620m for the 5-year period prior to the current Plan.
This growth was largely mirrored by the numbers of actual apprentices. There was an increase of 63% from 2019 to 2024, to 29,700.
The number of employers also nearly doubled from around 6,000 to approaching 10,000 by 2024.
In 2024, there were 9,300 new apprenticeship registrations, the highest ever. 19 new apprenticeships have been created in sectors such as finance, engineering, healthcare and ICT since the start of the plan. There are now 78 apprenticeship programmes in operation with 16 at degree and post graduate level.
So the 2021-2025 period have seen dramatic growth in apprenticeships some of which must be due to the plan but some is down to economic realities and industry changes.
It should be noted that the 9,300 new apprenticeship registrations can be compared to the 83,424 applications to the CAO in 2025 which climbed over 6 per cent to 88,817 this year.
One option among many
So that’s the background for the new five-year plan which will run from 2026 to 2030.
There have been other developments in the broader education system. Traineeships and micro-credentials offer more specific answers to particular training needs at different points in people’s careers.
Tertiary degrees have opened up an alternative access to higher education outside the CAO. And, of course, there are a huge range of Further Education and Training options and venues.
The development of apprenticeships since 2016 has taken two routes: the traditional craft apprenticeship route and the newer Consortia Led Apprenticeships (CLA’s) where industry sectors have taken the lead.
What has helped the emergence of the aspired ‘Single Cohesive System’ has been the National Framework of Qualifications which gives apprentices, and everyone else, their recognised and tradeable qualifications.
A new plan on the way
The new 2026-2030 plan will be published later this year. The review report pinpoints many of the problems and opportunities it will hope to address. There are 48 recommendations in the review report but here are a few of the more important ones.
The first idea is that the system should be quality assured and there should be oversight to ensure that all of the programs are equally valuable.
Many of the frustrations with the present system is down to capacity so the review wants action on provision for more training centres and more qualified teachers and instructors.
An interesting angle is the emphasis on making apprenticeships work with small and medium enterprises (SMEs). It’s difficult for SMEs to fit apprentices in to smaller workforces and may be a burden administratively. The review wants to see extra supports here because the vast majority of firms in Ireland are SMEs, so there’s huge potential for expansion there.
Inclusion is a big consideration. Traditional crafts have been mainly male like construction, plumbing, etc. There is loads of work to be done to get girls working in these areas. Equally, the review recommends that first year wages and minimum wages be looked at to cater for people on low incomes.
The new apprenticeships model has the potential to change education and employment patterns and perhaps redefine what it is to have a qualification or a profession.
Main principles
1. A High Quality and Innovative Approach
Apprenticeship will deliver the highest quality of work-based learning, supporting and demonstrating innovation to empower apprentices and employers to meet current and emerging skills needs
2. Employer-driven Responses
Apprenticeship will be recognised and valued by employers across all sectors of the economy as a key mechanism for building a highly skilled workforce, contributing to productivity and sustainable growth
3. Apprenticeship for All
The profile of the apprenticeship population will more closely reflect the profile of the general population
4. A Valued Option
Apprenticeships will be available and recognised as a work based learning opportunity, providing sought after qualifications across the tertiary education and training sector, and
5. A Single Cohesive System
There will be a single apprenticeship system underpinned by a clear governance framework with strong stakeholder input