Less than one per cent of those training for areas such as plumbing, carpentry or electrical work are women, according to the Department of Education.
While the number of apprentices has risen to 25,000, as a result of the construction boom, women were still not attracted to the trades, said Mr Paddy McDonagh, assistant general secretary at the Department.
He said the main impediment might be how women perceived the trades.
He was speaking during a meeting of the Committee of Public Accounts dealing with the accounts of the Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT), which is heavily involved in training apprentices.
Mr McDonagh said there was a "very low uptake" of apprenticeships by women, despite several campaigns to stir their interest. "F┴S has been trying to make the areas more attractive, but it is difficult to do," he told the committee.
He said while the figures were low, they were not out of line internationally. "It is a very hard problem to crack . . . if someone has a solution, we still have not found it".
The chairman of the committee, Mr Michael Finucane TD, said the situation seemed to be going "backwards, not forward". He said while he could understand while women might not be interested in "wet trades" such as block laying or plastering, he could not understand why they would not be interested in electrical work.
Mr Conor Lenihan TD, said it was very alarming that no progress was being made. He said the Equality Authority would have reason to investigate the issue.
He said becoming an electrician in particular could be a "spring board" to higher earnings or to becoming an owner manager. He said the committee might have to ask F┴S to come before them and explain the situation.
The committee also discussed the problem of getting more students to choose science and maths courses at third level. Dr Brendan Goldsmith, president of DIT, said one of the problems was some maths teachers at second level were not qualified in their subject. He said others only had a pass maths qualification.
He said the lack of interest in science and maths was a Europe-wide problem, even in countries like Germany where engineering has been traditionally popular.
Dr Goldsmith said maths was not as recognised a discipline as others throughout Irish education. "People do not mind admitting they are innumerate, but they become highly indignant if they are descried as illiterate," he said.
He was also asked about a report from earlier this year by the Labour Relations Commission, which included highly critical remarks from staff on how DIT is run. He said a human resources director had been appointed since then and progress was being made. "Things are moving along," he said.