Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 18 January 2023
1052. Deputy Aodhán Ó Ríordáin asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the number of safepasses that were certified for each of the years 2018 to 2022; his plans, if any, to increase the volume of certified safe passes to be granted in 2023; if he will address the delays in accessing safepass courses and registration; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1662/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraSafe Pass card applications and registrations are processed on demand. SOLAS has and will continue to have the capacity to meet demand. There is currently no delay in the processing of Safe Pass cards.
Safe Pass training and assessment is delivered by SOLAS Approved Training Organisations (ATOs) and tutors. These are private providers. As it is a demand-led programme, class sizes vary. Safe Pass tutors generally teach anything between 10 to 20 participants, depending on the demand. SOLAS is not experiencing any backlog regarding Safe Pass training provision.
As illustrated below, the processing and issuing of Safe Pass cards increased by 11% in 2021 with a further increase of 36% in 2022 resulting is a 46% increase from 2020 to 2022.
|
Year |
Number of new Safe Pass cards issued |
|
2018 |
105,361 |
|
2019 |
108,612 |
|
2020 |
70,780 |
|
2021 |
79,807 |
|
2022 |
125,141 |
