Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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230. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the financial grant provisions he has put in place to support young unemployed persons to complete the final job phase of an apprenticeship through institutes of technology as similarly provided for low income households with regard to third level education. [1232/14]

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 in respect of full time students for the academic year 2013 / 2014 is €2,500. The contribution has been levied by Institutes of Technology in respect of apprentices since 2004, with FÁS/SOLAS paying part of the contribution and apprentices themselves paying the part 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 is a decision taken in the context of the overall savings this Department had to find for 2014 and future years.

Apprentices will pay the same contribution as students, apportioned for the time they spend in the Institutes. The vast majority of apprentices will pay €833 for phases in the 2013/14 academic year. Apprentices are not eligible for grants under the Student Grant Scheme as they do not meet the funding condition of participating in an approved full-time course in an approved institution. However, unlike students, 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.