Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry South, Independent)
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63. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the reason behind the decision to charge apprentices €1,000 a year; if he will review same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49984/13]

Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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The Annual Student Contribution is levied on students attending Institutes of Technology. The amount due by apprentices is calculated on a pro rata basis of the time which they spend in Institutes of Technology during the academic year. This is typically one third of the Annual Student Contribution, which €2,500 for the academic year 2013/2014, paid by students attending for the full academic year but it can a greater proportion for certain trades where longer periods are spent in Institutes of Technology.

Since 2004, FÁS/SOLAS has paid a part of the Annual Student Contribution due in respect of apprentices, with apprentices themselves paying the part of the contribution relating to examination fees. As part of Budget 2014, SOLAS will cease making payments to Institutes of Technology and apprentices will pay the full pro rata Annual Student Contribution. This treats apprentices in the same way as other students in those institutions. Apprentices are paid a training allowances by SOLAS for phases of their training spent in Institutes of Technology. This allowance is equivalent to the wages they receive from their employers for on the job phases and is unaffected by the budgetary changes.