Mr. Andrew Brownlee:

On behalf of SOLAS, I thank the Chair and joint committee members for the opportunity to speak with them today and discuss the Action Plan for Apprenticeship 2021-2025. I am joined by Dr. Mary-Liz Trant, director of the national apprenticeship office. The office was set up in 2022 to take responsibility for the management, oversight and development of the system, and drive the delivery of the plan. It is jointly managed by SOLAS and the Higher Education Authority to reflect the fact that apprenticeship training provision spans across both the further education and training, FET, and higher education, HE, sectors.

The apprenticeship system has continued to transform and grow significantly over the lifetime of the action plan. In 2020, there were just 5,236 new apprentice registrations, but by 2024 this had grown to 9,352. This leaves us on course to hit the 10,000 target for 2025, which is the final year of the plan. There is now an apprentice population of 29,279, having expanded by more than 50% since 2020. There are 77 diverse apprenticeship programmes to choose from, ranging from level 5 to level 10 on the national framework of qualifications, NFQ, serving industries as diverse as biopharma, ICT, recruitment, financial services, retail, hospitality, engineering and construction, with a further 25 in development. Funding for apprenticeships has increased from €142 million in 2019 to €339 million in 2025.

Other key achievements in the delivery of the apprenticeship action plan include the introduction of an employer grant scheme, incentivising employers to recruit across all types of apprenticeships; national surveys of employers and of apprentices, showing very positive feedback on the benefit of apprenticeship options for industry and those embarking on developing their careers; a large increase in options in professional areas of training and development via apprenticeship, including in social work, engineering, accounting and international financial services; the high-profile apprentice of the year awards are now an annual fixture, with the fourth year of these awards taking place in October; growth in participation by under-represented groups, including members of the Traveller community, those from ethnic minorities, women, and people with disabilities, with bursaries and access initiatives put in place; and a plan for the fully integrated apprenticeship system developed via extensive, broad-based consultation.

SOLAS also has a role as the co-ordinating provider for craft apprenticeships. While training is provided by a network of education and training boards, ETBs, and technological universities, SOLAS remains responsible for developing and setting curricula, scheduling off-the-job training across this provider network, setting assessments and overall quality assurance of provision. Craft apprenticeship provision has also grown substantially over the lifetime of the plan despite significant disruption to training capacity due to the pandemic restrictions in 2020 and 2021, leaving a major backlog in apprentices waiting for training. The pre-Covid craft capacity level across phases 2, 4 and 6 in 2019 stood at 10,000, falling to around 7,000 in the next two years. However, there has been a major ramp-up since that time, with capacity growing to 13,256 in 2022, 14,780 in 2023 and 17,000 in 2024. It is currently expected that ultimate capacity in 2025 will approach 17,800, around 4% more than last year, and almost 80% up on pre-Covid levels.

Alongside this growth, a number of important steps have been taken over the previous two years to ensure apprenticeship curricula are up to date with rapidly evolving industry and technological advancements. Over the next year, in partnership with training providers, we will roll out revalidated curriculum for 25 craft apprenticeship training programmes and we will introduce new and updated assessments across all training phases.

We believe the work of SOLAS and our partners over the past few years has helped to support a world-class and rapidly expanding apprenticeship system, with the quality of our apprentices acknowledged internationally and on the global stage in WorldSkills competitions. It is a pathway to high quality, well-paid careers, with recent CSO analysis revealing craft apprentices earn on average €49,000 per year just two years after qualifying. There is an excellent foundation from which to further grow and diversify the apprenticeship system.

The Department of further and higher education will lead the development of the next action plan for apprenticeship, which will be published next year. In SOLAS, we look forward to working with the Department on the further development of the system and achieving the Government’s target of 12,500 new apprentice registrations annually, as well as the realisation of an integrated system that will see co-ordinating provider responsibility for craft apprenticeships move from SOLAS to a devolved model.

I hope this provides a brief overview of the reform of SOLAS’ role in the delivery of the Action Plan for Apprenticeship 2021-2025. We look forward to working with the Department on the development of the next action plan and all of the apprenticeship partners to ensure its success. I would like to thank the committee for its time today and welcome further discussion on the matter.