Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for his question. I share with him and most of the House the belief that we have undervalued apprenticeships, and particularly during the crash they were totally undermined. We have committed to doubling the number of registered apprentices, providing 50,000 apprenticeship and traineeship places up to 2020. In the coming weeks, I will publish a detailed three-year plan setting out how we plan to deliver on this commitment. The plan will include details of our approach to managing the pipeline of new apprenticeships identified through the 2015 call for proposals and will set out the timing of a new call for proposals. The plan will set out specific annual targets, as well as bringing forward a range of specific actions to enable, support and streamline the development of new apprenticeships and traineeships.

In recent months, we have seen the first of the new apprenticeships with the new insurance practitioner apprenticeship launching and the industrial electrical engineer apprenticeship getting under way. Further new apprenticeships are due to launch in the coming months in various sectors, including medical devices, polymer processing and financial services. As well as developments in new apprenticeships, registrations in the traditional 27 craft trades are rising. In 2015 there were 3,153 registrations, which represents a significant recovery since the crash. SOLAS has recently projected that by 2020, the figure will grow to 5,587.

There are potential barriers to the delivery of these targets but by taking a planned approach, it will allow us to identify potential bottlenecks systematically and overcome them. There is a clear roadmap for the delivery of a new apprenticeship, including an industry-led consortium identifying a skills need and developing an occupational profile, collaboration with a training partner to develop a suitable curriculum for validation and quality assurance. It is a demanding process but we must follow it to ensure this is a quality stream.

I acknowledge the Deputy's statement that we have a problem with gender. We probably have a problem in selling the benefit of such an approach to employers, parents and others who make decisions. I am very keen to promote this vigorously with both the consumer and employer side.

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