Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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628. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his views on whether due to the high waiting lists for phase two and phase 4 and 6 training places for apprentices especially in construction and electrical his Department is now effectively operating a capacity limited model of apprenticeship recruitment, which was suggested by a review in 2013 carried out by his Department (details supplied). [28887/17]

Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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629. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his views on whether there are capacity constraints holding back the training of apprentices here, especially in the electrical and construction sectors and that this is reflected in the high waiting lists for training places at phases two, four and six which has led to a reluctance and inability of employers to register more new apprentices in these sectors. [28896/17]

Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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630. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his views on whether mistakes were made in the 2013 to 2016 period by SOLAS, the HEA and his Department in forecasting the demand for new apprenticeships in 2016 and 2017 and as a result the training places were not put in place to enable the throughput of more apprentices to match demand in the construction sector. [28897/17]

Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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631. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the new measures and changes his Department has undertaken since 2013 to enhance the control of recruitment and to smooth capacity planning of apprenticeships. [28898/17]

John Halligan (Waterford, Independent)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 628 to 631, inclusive, together.

SOLAS does not operate a capacity model in the managing of the provision of the existing craft apprenticeship programmes. As the Deputy is aware apprenticeship is a demand driven alternate educational and training programme and the allocation of provision is determined by the skill demands of employers.

SOLAS, through its Skills and Labour Market and Research Unit (SLMRU) and its Apprenticeship Services Unit, regularly conducts forecasts of apprenticeship requirements.  The SLMRU has developed a comprehensive methodology to generate annual five-year forecasts of apprentice intake for construction trades. The forecasts are revised annually and are due to be updated later this year.  The methodology takes account of output forecasts, in money terms, for various segments of the construction industry, the CSO’s Quarterly National Household Survey (QNHS) and the relationship between apprentice intake and employment trends in the sectors. 

Forecasts are used by both SOLAS and the Higher Education Authority (HEA) for planning purposes and, where apprenticeship registrations are particularly strong, provision is allocated strategically on a nationwide basis. The forecasts for registrations in the craft apprenticeship programmes remain strong and I am confident that there is effective capacity planning for apprenticeship programmes.

SOLAS works closely with my Department in managing apprenticeship provision. Since 2015 the Department has allocated additional apprenticeship instructor posts to SOLAS for dissemination across the Education and Training Board network.  SOLAS has allocated over half of these additional posts as electrical instructor posts to ensure provision is matched with demand.  Furthermore, a number of ETBs are in the process of introducing new facilities to meet the increased demand in the construction and electrical sectors. While labour market trends remain difficult to predict in a rapidly changing labour market, SOLAS is satisfied that with this additional provision being put in place there will be sufficient provision to meet the current and expected demands from the construction and electrical sectors.