Joe Flaherty (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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52. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the staffing and funding allocated to the new national apprenticeship office; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12775/22]

Joe Flaherty (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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The programme for Government made a number of key commitments to look at new ways of structuring funding for and promoting apprenticeships. It recognised that we have to encourage better and wider take-up and target skills to meet the needs of our economy. A plan to deliver this is the Action Plan for Apprenticeship, which has shown the intent to create a modern apprenticeship system that is reflective of Irish society and supports learners and employers. I ask the Minister to comment on the staffing and funding allocated to the new national apprenticeship office.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Flaherty for the question and for highlighting the important issue of apprenticeships.

I am pleased to say that significant progress is being made in realising the ambition for apprenticeship set out in the Action Plan for Apprenticeship, which I was pleased to publish in April of last year. The further development and mainstreaming of apprenticeship in Ireland through the creation of a single unified apprenticeship system has a key role to play in meeting Ireland's skills needs in a manner that presents a valued proposition for apprentices and employers alike.

Key to the delivery set out in the action plan is a new organisational architecture, including, as the Deputy has alluded to, the creation of a new national apprenticeship office and a national apprenticeship alliance. The office will have responsibility for all aspects of management, oversight and development of the apprenticeship system and for implementing our action plan. Under the action plan the national apprenticeship office will exercise, on a shared and conjoint basis, the relevant legislative and funding functions of SOLAS and the HEA in this area. The new national apprenticeship office will deliver additional practical supports and information for employers and apprentices seeking to engage with apprenticeships. I am delighted to inform the Deputy that Dr. Mary-Liz Trant, who has extensive senior experience in education and training, has now been appointed as the first director of the office. She is now providing the leadership required to address the next stage in the office's development, and I thank her for that. This includes finalising the work programme, the staffing allocations and the development and implementation of solid governance and financial arrangements, aligned with our action plan. I am also pleased to inform the Deputy that a sum of €1 million has been allocated for the first year, 2022, of the national apprenticeship office's operation to allow it to establish, to staff up and to begin its work.

I am also pleased to tell the Deputy that the success of what has been a national effort under way to promote apprenticeship as a career option can be seen in the fact that last year saw the highest number ever of registered apprentices in our country, at 8,607. That is a 40% increase on the number for 2019, which was the last full year before the Covid pandemic, so the last comparable year. Last year 8,607 people put up their hands and said, "I want to be an apprentice." We need to build on that to meet the skills needs of our country.

Joe Flaherty (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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I agree with the Minister that we have seen good and much-needed progress lately in the form of an increased annual number of apprenticeship registrations. I think the entire House agrees that the creation of a focused, well-resourced national apprenticeship office to co-ordinate the apprenticeship system and to drive it forward is essential to this delivery. I am therefore delighted to see the Minister's enthusiasm for the project and to see the commitment he has made to it thus far. He said €1 million is allocated for the new office but, specifically, could he give us some indication as to how it will be staffed? I know we have a director for the office, but what staffing will she have? More importantly, where does the Minister think this new office will be located?

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I agree fully with the Deputy about the need to continue to promote apprenticeships. We have done this in a number of ways. For the very first time, leaving certificate students, when they go onto the CAO website, cao.ie/options, now see all their options, including apprenticeships, not just the university route. I always say to students about this place, so I will say it to the face of everyone here, that we always talk about building more houses in here. If every Member of the Dáil got together, we probably would not build one house between us. We need to make sure that younger people and not-so-young people get the opportunity to become the bricklayers, electricians, plasterers, plumbers and carpenters we need to address housing and the green skills needs of our economy. The employer grant has also been transformational. You cannot have apprentices without employers. This year we will also have a focus on public sector employers. The public sector cannot just keep lecturing the private sector. We need every county council and every Department taking on apprentices. We now have a lot of capital to expend on expanding this.

As for the detail, I would need to defer to the director, Dr. Mary-Liz Trant. We have given her the €1 million, she has been appointed to the role and she now needs to do her workforce planning. What I can tell the Deputy is that whatever she needs to make a success of this will be forthcoming from the Government.

Joe Flaherty (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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I take on board that we have to wait for the director to come into office before seeing exactly what her plans are. The country agrees we need apprentices rapidly, particularly for retrofitting.

It will be a missed opportunity if we do not take a centre and office for apprenticeships outside Dublin and the big urban areas. In the main, apprenticeships and apprentices will be drawn from rural Ireland into construction trades and across the agricultural and possibly retail sectors.

Deputy Conway-Walsh spoke of the challenges regarding student accommodation. The last thing we need to do is pile more students into large urban centres, fuelling the fire of the housing crisis. We have an opportunity with the Minister's statement of intent in terms of apprenticeships to reconfigure and recalibrate where we direct and where we house our students. It is a huge opportunity for the Minister and for rural Ireland.

Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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We all know apprenticeships have been a scandal over the last ten years since the financial crash. I welcome some of the points the Minister has made about how we are now looking at options but he gave 2021 figures of over 8,000 apprentices signed up. Does he believe that is enough? What is the figure we need to reach every year? I am talking to builders, plumbers and carpenters in small and medium family-run businesses. They are looking for support to take apprentices on, including financial support. Will the Government deal with that?

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputies Flaherty and Gould. In relation to rural and provincial Ireland, I am pleased we have €430 million in capital funding to spend on further and higher education. From memory, 45% of that will go to further education. I was talking to Longford-Westmeath ETB yesterday. Capital calls are open for each ETB to come forward with projects. There is a short deadline. It is the first week of April. Let us get these projects in and start opening more apprenticeship centres around the country. Good progress has been made on one in Galway-Roscommon recently but we need much more.

To Deputy Gould, we estimate we need about 10,000 registered apprentices per year by 2025. That is what the plan commits to. We were at 8,607 at the end of 2021 so things are looking good in that regard but we cannot be complacent. The point the Deputy made on small and medium businesses is important. Until now, we have seen good and growing employment uptake in apprentices but we need to make sure it is accessible to all employers. That is why we have brought in the new employer grant offering a €2,000 payment to an employer who takes on an apprentice. I hope that will be of great use.