Mr. Phil O'Flaherty:

I thank the joint committee for the opportunity to discuss the important area of apprenticeship and traineeship. The expansion of apprenticeship and traineeship is a key priority for the Government. The programme for Government and the Action Plan for Education contain a commitment to having a cumulative 50,000 enrolments on apprenticeship and traineeship programmes between 2016 and 2020. This represents more than a doubling of activity over the period. Details of how this overall target would be reached through increased enrolments each year were set out in the Action Plan to Expand Apprenticeship and Traineeship 2016-2020, along with information on a range of supporting initiatives.

Apprenticeship and traineeship are an important part of wider efforts to engage employers more closely in the education and training system and to ensure that education and training is meeting current and future skills needs. The programme to expand apprenticeship and traineeship was starting from a difficult position. Apprenticeship suffered enormously during the recession with a fall in registrations of more than 80%.

This closed an important avenue for young people. As well as giving access to valued careers for learners, apprenticeships and traineeships deliver talented and work-ready people for employers. Rebuilding these pathways to rewarding careers and increasing the pipeline of talent for employers have required significant work and new thinking.

It was recognised that apprenticeships and traineeships needed to grow beyond the sectors of the economy that had traditionally engaged with the programmes and that this would need an entirely new approach. Informed by an independent review of the apprenticeship system, the then Minister appointed the Apprenticeship Council in late 2014. The remit of the council was to oversee the development of a range of new apprenticeships, initially through a call for proposals, and examine the issues associated with creating a more flexible and accessible model of apprenticeship that could meet the needs of a diverse range of employers. Alongside this work, the curricula of existing craft apprenticeships were remodelled to keep pace with new methods and technologies in the workplace and ensure apprentices would have the broader range of literacy, numeracy, ICT and team working skills they needed to be successful. Work was also undertaken by SOLAS with the education and training boards to engage with employers to develop a range of new traineeships in growing areas of employment.

Really good progress has been made. There has been strong growth in apprenticeship registrations in recent years. Seventeen new programmes have been developed through two open calls for proposals issued by the Apprenticeship Council and a strong pipeline of further programmes is in development. A completely new model of flexible industry-led apprenticeships has been created, with a diverse range of programmes at levels 5 to 9 of the national framework of qualifications now in place. Craft apprenticeships are growing strongly, with industry re-engaging with apprenticeship recruitment. Nonetheless there are challenges. Apprenticeship programmes have taken longer to get off the ground than originally envisaged and registrations of new apprenticeships are approximately a year behind the targets set in the action plan. Female participation in apprenticeships remains low and the recovery in numbers in craft apprenticeships has not been evenly spread across all trades. Traineeships which in the past were primarily for unemployed persons saw some falls in enrolment as unemployment reduced significantly. However, there are plans in place to address these issues and the Department is confident about the future of these important programmes.

We are in a new phase of development of apprenticeships and traineeships. All of the key building blocks are in place and there is an excellent base of new programmes. The focus is now on employers and learners. Through the Apprenticeship Council and other partners, we are working hard with employers to ensure they will fully exploit the new opportunities to develop the talent in their workforce. It is only through real partnership and employer support that these important pathways into employment for the first time or career advancement can be opened up. The Government is also working to address the visibility of apprenticeship and traineeship opportunities, promote these pathways to women and other under-represented groups and engage with the career guidance community. The generation apprenticeship campaign is in full swing and the campaign has a lot to promote. Only in the past two weeks, we have seen the first graduates from new apprenticeship programmes, hundreds of craft apprentices receiving their qualifications, the publication of a review of pathways to apprenticeship and the launch of a number of a number of new apprenticeship and traineeship programmes. The Government, assisted by additional contributions from employers to the national training fund, has put significant additional resources into this area. An additional €27 million has been allocated in budget 2019, a tangible commitment to the programmes at a time when there are many competing demands for investment in education and training.

I look forward to hearing the contributions of the other bodies involved - I have already heard some of them - and discussing with committee members the progress made and the opportunities and challenges to come.