Apprenticeship Programmes
Dail Éireann — 2026-07-02
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James Lawless (FF), Kildare North

There is a framework in place where the trade unions and employers engage together on setting rates. The relevant legislation falls under the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment as opposed to my own Department. The minimum wage laws are part of the Industrial Training Act 1967 and the Labour Services Act 1987. All apprentices are, of course, employees. During the on-the-job phase of an apprenticeship, they are paid a wage by their employer. Neither SOLAS nor my Department is responsible for setting the rate of pay.
In the case of craft apprenticeships, minimum rates of pay are typically determined through that collective bargaining arrangement, subject to the normal dispute resolution mechanisms and are often underpinned by sectoral employment orders. We have well-established mechanisms engaging in partnership with the representative bodies to set these rates. That is the practice that has been there for some time. Perhaps there is a conversation that has to happen across the partners in that system. Certainly, it is beyond the remit of my Department exclusively or even at all in some cases. I hear the point the Deputy raises, and it is fair one. It is a balancing act. All the parties are at the table already setting those rates and agreeing sectoral employment orders.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-07-02/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-27T06:52:14+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-07-02