Apprenticeship Programmes
Dail Éireann — 2025-12-11
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Marian Harkin (IND), Sligo-Leitrim

Again, I agree with the Deputy. We are making real efforts to try to ensure that apprenticeships are seen as plan A, not plan B or C. They are not something students get involved in if something else does not work out. They are real, meaningful pathways and opportunities to employment. The Department is very actively involved in a number of programmes to highlight and showcase the attractiveness of apprenticeships. For example, one programme, Facts, Faces, Futures, uses female role models, specifically, to highlight the benefit aspects of apprenticeships. That is run by the national apprenticeship office. We have a large social media campaign, Building Heroes, which takes what is called a peer-to-peer approach to dispel some of the myths surrounding apprenticeships. I have met many of the young people involved in this. It is a really positive programme to show that apprenticeships are for everybody.

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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