Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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232. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if his Department has estimated the potential drop out rate by apprentices from courses they have undertaken with FÁS/SOLAS arising from the introduction of fees for those courses; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2333/14]

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)
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235. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will reverse the new fees applicable to trainee apprentices in view of the undue hardship this fee will impose on some of the lowest earners in the State; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2371/14]

Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 232 and 235 together.

The Annual Student Contribution is levied on apprentices and students attending Institutes of Technology. This contribution has been levied by Institutes of Technology in respect of apprentices since 2004, with FÁS/SOLAS paying 70% of the contribution and apprentices themselves paying the remainder. As part of Budget 2014, SOLAS will cease making this payment to the Institutes of Technology and apprentices themselves will pay the full pro rata Annual Student Contribution.

The charge is €833 for the vast majority of apprentices scheduled on an off the job phase in an Institute of Technology in the academic year 2013/14, but is more than this for a small number of apprentices attending phases that are longer than the typical 10-11 weeks.

Apprentices will pay the same contribution as students, apportioned for the time they spend in the Institutes. 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. Although apprentices are not eligible to receive student grants, the value of their training allowance would be greater than the maintenance available under the student grant scheme.

This decision was taken against a difficult budgetary background and there is no scope to re-visit it. I am confident that apprentices, who are in receipt of allowances and have invested time and effort to reach phase 4 and 6 of their apprenticeships, will see the value of the programme they are on and remain to completion.