Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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148. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his views on the lack of apprenticeships suitable for a number of employment vacancies such as chefs and in the hospitality sector generally in order to upskill young persons; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24957/17]

John Halligan (Waterford, Independent)
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In January of this year, I launched the Action Plan to expand Apprenticeship and Traineeship in Ireland 2016-2020, setting out how state agencies, education and training providers and employers will work together to deliver on the Programme for Government commitments on the expansion of apprenticeship and traineeship in the period to 2020. The Plan sets out how we will manage the pipeline of new apprenticeships already established through the first call for proposals in 2015 along with a commitment to launch a second call for new apprenticeship proposals. Over the lifetime of the Action Plan, 50,000 people will be registered on apprenticeship and traineeship programmes representing a doubling of current activity.

Work on the development of a new Commis Chef Apprenticeship led by the Irish Hotels Federation and the Restaurants Association of Ireland working with Kerry Education and Training Board is at an advanced stage with programme commencement scheduled for later this year.

The Apprenticeship Council has approved development funding for a separate proposal to develop a Chef de Partie Apprenticeship and will continue to work with the proposers of these new programmes to develop them into sustainable apprenticeships that can be delivered on a nationwide basis. The funding for planned and forecast expansion in 2017 will see an additional €20 million provided.

A key commitment in the Action Plan for this year was the issue of a second call to employers for proposals for new apprenticeships which took place earlier this month and will remain open until 1st September 2017. It is now open to all sectors, including the hospitality sector, to submit proposals for new apprenticeship programmes to provide for the skill needs of their sectors. Information and supporting documentation on the second call is available at the new apprenticeship website www.apprenticeship.ie