John Halligan (Waterford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

5 o’clock

Several reports have highlighted that the number of women employed in craft apprenticeships is low, reflecting the traditionally low levels of female employment in the craft sectors. While SOLAS offers a bursary to craft employers to encourage them to employ female apprentices, the uptake by women is still low. However, in recent years there has been an increase in the number of women participating in apprenticeships overall, mainly because of the expansion of apprenticeship into new areas. Many of the programmes are in occupations that have a greater gender balance in the workplace such as financial services and others. At the end of 2018 there were 341 female apprenticeships registered, more than double the 2017 figure of 151. I accept that the number is still low relative to the uptake of apprenticeships in general. While this is welcome, it remains important to address issues influencing the low level of recruitment of women in the craft sectors. SOLAS has completed a review of the pathways to participation in apprenticeship for under-represented groups, including women. Areas highlighted for action include setting targets for female participation, consideration of extending the craft employer bursary to other apprenticeships that have less than 20% female participation and a specific focus on female participation as part of the generation apprenticeship national promotional campaign. Women now feature prominently in all aspects of the national promotional campaign. In the campaign there is a specific focus on encouraging women and girls to consider apprenticeships as a means of launching and developing their careers. The forthcoming review of career guidance will focus on encouraging the consideration of apprenticeship options by students at all levels.

We launched 17 apprenticeships last year. We must take things in perspective, including the size of the country, from where we have come and the population compared to that of larger countries. We now have 40 apprenticeships. The number of apprenticeships has increased considerably in recent years. The national programme for apprenticeships was launched two years ago and has been highly successful in advertising apprenticeships in all aspects of the workplace. I agree that the number of women participating is low, but there has been a doubling of apprenticeships for women this year compared to last year. The action plan to expand the numbers of apprenticeships and trainees in Ireland in the period from 2016 to 2020 is in place. We are on track considering the size of the economy.

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