Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

A key strength of the apprenticeship model, as highlighted in the recent action plan for apprenticeship, is that it is a demand-led approach to meeting workforce and skill requirements in our economy. In the case of craft apprenticeship, for example, the number of places is determined by employers, with off-the-job training provided to all registered apprentices. Apprenticeships established since 2016 have one or more intakes per annum with the take-up determined by employer engagement and available apprentice jobs provided by employers.

The detailed and comprehensive Action Plan for Apprenticeship 2021-2025, which was launched on 19 April last, sets out new ways of structuring, funding and promoting apprenticeships to make apprenticeship accessible to employers and learners. The actions set out in the plan seek to deliver on a target of 10,000 apprenticeship registrations per annum by 2025.

The Government is committed under the action plan to working with employers to promote, enable and support the recruitment of apprentices. Measures to support employer engagement in apprenticeship, particularly within the SME sector, will be integral to the delivery of the target of 10,000 new apprentice registrations per annum by 2025. These financial and non-financial measures will include an annual grant for employers not benefiting from the existing mechanism of State-funded craft apprentice training allowances for off-the-job training. This employer grant will be administered by the new national apprenticeship office and the level of grant will be announced by the end of the year.

There is a very substantial allocation of resources to apprenticeships drawing on the resources provided by employers through the training levy into the national training fund. The 2021 budget allocation for apprenticeship is €198.4 million which is a 7% increase on the 2020 allocation.

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