Apprenticeship Programmes
Dail Éireann — 2025-12-11
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James Lawless (FF), Kildare North

The Deputy will be aware that there are allowances available to the apprentices who have to travel. There are various different rates and different bandings depending on whether they are travelling 5, 10 or 20 miles, right up to 40 miles or more. There are different travel allowances available to apprentices to help them in meeting those travel costs. While the issue is a real one, and one which I have asked SOLAS to examine and tackle, there is an induction module for apprentices when they start. Depending on the particular apprenticeship, and I gave the example of the farriers located in Kildare but there are many across the country, it should be known by people entering that these are based in a particular limited location. Equally, some of the larger courses, like those for electricians, plumbers or wood manufacturing, are available more widely and in those cases it is reasonable to expect that a place closer to home would come available. I expect a certain degree on knowledge on the part of the apprentice. Certainly, that should be communicated during the induction stage. Even though there may be a seven-day window to accept or refuse the place, there should have been an awareness of what is likely to arise long before that stage.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2025-12-11/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-27T06:54:48+00:00
Sitting date: 2025-12-11