56. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment whether he will increase the minimum wage for apprentices. [66904/26]

The National Minimum Wage Act prescribes the minimum hourly rate of pay for the majority of employees in Ireland, subject to a small number of exemptions.

Pursuant to section 5 of the National Minimum Wage Act, 2000, exemptions from the statutory minimum wage are in place for, inter alia, statutory apprentices.

Apprentices are excluded from the National Minimum Wage Act, reflecting both the unique nature of apprenticeships and the existence of a long established system for determining apprentice pay rates which provides protection for apprentices.

Apprenticeships combine employment with structured education and training, and existing apprentice pay arrangements reflect the costs to employers of providing that training and the lower productivity associated with the earlier stages of an apprenticeship.

Apprentice rates recognise:

-       The time and resources employers invest in training apprentices.

-       The productivity forgone while apprentices are being trained.

-       The need to allow employers to focus on training and development, rather than recovering training costs.

While apprentices may earn below the National Minimum Wage during the early years of their apprenticeship, later years can provide apprentice rates significantly above the minimum wage.

The Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science has responsibility for apprenticeship policy relating to education and training.

The Government's Action Plan for Apprenticeship 2021-2025, published in 2021, aimed to develop a flexible and responsive apprenticeship system and provide a strong value proposition for both employers and potential apprentices.

The Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science is developing a new Action Plan for Apprenticeship for the period 2026–2030. A public consultation on the proposed Plan ran from December 2025 to February 2026, with submissions intended to inform the content and focus of the new Plan.

I appreciate that apprentice wage levels involve competing considerations and that low wages may act as a barrier to entering an apprenticeship for some individuals. Conversely, higher wage and training costs may discourage some employers from hiring apprentices.

Any changes to the existing approach to apprentice pay therefore need to balance the objective of ensuring apprentices receive appropriate remuneration with the need to maintain employer participation in apprenticeships and support continued growth in apprenticeship opportunities.

The issue of apprentice pay is kept under review by my Department, including through regular engagement with the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science on apprenticeship policy.