I return to an issue I previously raised with the Taoiseach, namely, the delays in completing apprenticeships. During the Covid response, the SOLAS block was postponed and delayed, which led to a huge backlog and waiting list for apprentices. The Taoiseach told me last September that there would be considerable Government investment, and I take it that there has been. SOLAS has confirmed to me that it is working at full capacity. The problem is that full capacity is inadequate to clear the backlog. It is like saying the University of Limerick is working at full capacity so what is the problem. The problem is that full capacity is inadequate.

There are still huge delays in completing electrical, plumbing and carpentry and joinery apprenticeships. All of those are important skills for the very ambitious plans of the Taoiseach's colleagues, the Ministers, Deputies Darragh O'Brien and Eamon Ryan, for retrofitting. We need to get people into these areas as quickly as possible, and get as many people as possible into them. We are not achieving that. We are at full capacity but the waiting lists remain unchanged.

I received an email from a constituent about his son. He is two years into an apprenticeship and is still waiting for the seven-month SOLAS block. After he completes that, he has to do two blocks in college. It will, therefore, be seven years before he will have completed what started out as a four-year apprenticeship. He made the point that that is longer than doctors or barristers have to study for. That is fair enough. There is also a fair enough analogy to be drawn in that, notwithstanding all of the difficulties posed by Covid, in particular the difficulties in health settings, clinical studies, laboratories, etc., there were not and are not the same delays and backlogs in completing a medical degree that apprentices are now encountering. My constituent's son is contemplating leaving the country.

Working at full capacity may not be enough. We may need temporary extraordinary measures to clear these backlogs. Those on whom we are relying to carry out the very ambitious plans the Government is setting out are contemplating leaving the country because they are frustrated by the lack of progress in being able to complete an apprenticeship. There is, of course, a huge difference in what apprentices and qualified carpenters, electricians, joiners, plumbers, etc., are paid. The reason many people do apprenticeships is that they will be able to earn a living and get on with their lives after a fixed period of time. The goalposts are changing before their eyes. They are getting frustrated. The Government needs to deal with this and I would like to know what it has planned to do.

I thank the Deputy for raising what is a very important issue. We cannot make Covid, or its impacts, disappear. I am not suggesting the Deputy is saying that but we cannot do that. Unfortunately, Covid has had impacts across all aspects of activity and lives.

That said, we had a record 8,607 apprentice registrations in 2021. We are well on the way to ensuring that our 2025 target of 10,000 registrations per annum is very much realisable. Registrations in 2021 show an increase of nearly 40% compared with 2019. There is real traction here. Craft apprentice registrations have experienced a marked increased in interest over the past four years. The increasing recognition of the value of these employment options means that strong registrations are continuing, with more apprentices coming through the system for placement on all phases of their training.

As of Monday, 2 May, there have been 2,056 registrations this year, comprising 1,794 craft and 262 new consortia-led apprenticeships. The total apprentice population as of last Monday is 23,981. I can go through all of the funding that is provided. The grant scheme of €2,000 for employers of apprentices on consortia-led programmes has worked.

On the backlog, a number of agreed reform measures are being implemented to try to clear waiting lists. These include changed delivery structures for phase 2 off-the-job training in the three programmes with the largest waiting lists, namely, electrical, plumbing and carpentry and joinery apprenticeships, in order to facilitate a third intake of apprentices per annum. An opt-in rapid employer assessment at phase 7 on the job was completed for apprentices who had finalised phase 6 and spent more than four years in their apprenticeships.

More than 8,400 apprentices, or over 70% of those who were delayed in their training by Covid-19, have now progressed in their off-the-job training. This includes over 700 final year apprentices who have been fast-tracked to complete their qualifications. The backlog is tackled in order of those apprentices who have been waiting the longest. Over 700 apprentices who are in the final stages of their apprenticeships were supported to complete an accelerated final phase of workplace training and are now receiving their qualification.

As of the end of March, significant numbers of apprentices, over 7,000, were still waiting to access phases 2, 4 and 6. I do not in any way understate the issue here. Phase 4 lists have decreased significantly since January. It is expected that craft apprentices waiting for off-the-job training for phases 4 and 6 are on target to be cleared by mid-end of 2022. The majority of phase 2 waiting lists are targeted to be cleared by the year end of 2022.

The CAO website opened the system for the first time for apprentices on 5 November. The number of visits to apprenticeship.ie directly from the CAO options page is up to 28,201.

Generally, I am open to see what more we can do to accelerate programmes without diluting too much their quality.

I completely agree that we need to ensure the quality remains the same, but we could do it in medicine, which is very important, and so too is building. We know what bad quality building results in. We are living through it now and the Government has to deal with its consequences. We do need people coming through. The Taoiseach cited many figures relating to new apprentices coming in but it is about those who are in the system. I appreciate that measures are in place, but I urge the Taoiseach to try to ramp them up because even if the backlog for stage 2 is cleared, does that backlog then continue through the system? Do the apprentices ever catch up on that delay or do they just get on to the next stage, albeit a year and a half later, and are then a year and a half late throughout the system? If the latter is the case, it is profoundly unfair. A way needs to be found to ensure that, even if the apprentices who started off to do a four-year apprenticeship cannot complete it in four years, at least they are not looking at seven years because that would be entirely unfair to them. I think the Taoiseach and I agree on that at least.

That is a fair point. I will speak to the Minister again to see what can be done in respect of the seven-year timeframe the Deputy is suggesting. It is a fair point.

It could be six years.

The Deputy is saying that at the moment people may have to go seven years, which would be too long. We did not close down medicine during Covid. I am not saying that facetiously. We did close down construction twice - in the first and second lockdowns - which had impacts.

The Government did close universities.

The students went online. I take the Deputy's point but the nature of apprenticeship is that the student is on the job-----

As is the case for medical studies.

In the case of medical studies, many doctors were in hospitals and gained different types of experiences. We did not close that down. I take the Deputy's point. It is valid but there are specific-----

The Government did in Ennis, but we might come to that later.

The Deputy is aware that I have been involved in apprenticeship as a Minister in different capacities. There are specific block periods of release that apprentices have to do, with specific facilities and all of that.