Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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149. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the status of the programme for Government commitment to double the number of apprenticeships to provide a total of 31,000 places by 2020. [40851/16]

Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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150. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the progress to date of the programme for government commitment to target over 100 different apprenticeship schemes. [40852/16]

John Halligan (Waterford, Independent)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 149 and 150 together.

A detailed plan, setting out how we will deliver on the programme for government commitments, will be published shortly.  The plan will include details of our approach to managing the pipeline of new apprenticeships identified through the 2015 call for proposals. The plan will set out a clear path for the development of new apprenticeships and will also set out the timing of a new call for proposals. It will set out how the 31,000 registrations will be distributed across existing and new apprenticeships on an annual basis.  In targeting 100 regional apprenticeship schemes, we will focus on ensuring that national apprenticeships are delivered on a regional basis as appropriate and as supported by employer demand.