Ollie Crowe (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 1:

To delete all words after "That" and substitute the following:

- "the Bill be read a second time this day twelve months, to allow for further consideration of the Bill."

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Calleary, to the House. As Members will be aware, there are existing industrial relations structures for the negotiation of apprenticeship rates. When the national minimum wage was introduced in 2000, it was determined that the apprentices should be excluded from the Act in recognition of the unique rates of such apprenticeships, and the fact that a long-established practice for determining rates, which adequately protected apprentices, already existed. It was recognised that the apprenticeships offered a unique combination of education and work experience, and that exempting apprentices from the national minimum wage would promote and encourage employers to focus on training apprenticeships, while at the same time recognising the cost to employers in terms of time, investment and productivity forgone.For the majority of apprenticeships the rate of pay is agreed between the apprentice and the employer, with the employer paying the apprentice rate during the on-the-job and off-the-job training elements of the apprenticeship.

For the 25 craft apprenticeship programmes the minimum rates of pay applying under the employment contracts are either agreed in the relevant sector or set out in legally-binding sectoral employment orders recommended by the Labour Court. These minimum rates vary between occupations and sectors but in all cases craft apprenticeships rates are exposed as a proportion of the qualified rate, increasing yearly from 33% of the qualified rate in year one to 90% in year four.

We must acknowledge that to ensure the apprenticeship system continues to deliver for learners and employers the Government has created an apprenticeship action plan. This initiative will ensure we have a modern apprenticeship system reflective of Irish society and supports learners and employers along the way. The new apprenticeship base has grown strongly over the past three years, with 35 apprenticeship types launched during that time. It provides a solid foundation for increased awareness and recruitment in the coming years. A review of all of the craft apprenticeships has been delivered and they have been revised and modernised. An updated framework for quality assurance has been developed. At present there are more than 60 programmes that lead to valuable qualifications in areas such as finance, accountancy, laboratory technician, engineering, heavy vehicle mechanic and healthcare. The action plan aims to expand the types of programmes available and increase the number of apprenticeships to 10,000 per year by 2025. The budget for 2023 contained a cost-of-living package for students and investment in third level education, including a one-off reduction of 33% in fees paid by apprentices and additional funding for social inclusion measures in apprenticeships.