Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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199. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the extent to which any particular deficiency has been identified regarding the number of apprentices available for location throughout the public and private sectors; the extent to which particular sectors of industry have been identified as being particularly deficient in this regard; the provisions being made to address these issues; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35096/15]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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In the existing apprenticeship trades, apprentices are taken on by approved employers and the State provides off the job training according to the curriculum for the trade. The scheme is essentially demand led and employers will recruit apprentices according to their overall current and projected levels of activity.

Following its open call for proposals, the Apprenticeship Council is working with proposers to develop new apprenticeships. While there was very significant interest in the development of new apprenticeships as evidenced by the receipt of 86 separate proposals, apprenticeship is an employer-led scheme and it is a matter for groups of employers to decide if an apprenticeship is the best means of meeting the skills demand in their sectors.