Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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110. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the extent to which apprenticeships under the various headings are being provided for with particular reference to the need as indicated from the workplace; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31994/17]

John Halligan (Waterford, Independent)
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As the deputy is aware, the Apprenticeship Council is currently overseeing the expansion of the apprenticeship system into a range of new sectors of the economy. Following its first call for proposals in 2015, the Apprenticeship Council has been working closely with consortia to develop their proposals into sustainable apprenticeships. Last year we saw the first of these new programmes with the Insurance Practitioner Apprenticeship launching in September and the Industrial Electrical Engineer Apprenticeship getting underway in November. Last month three further new programmes got underway, two in the medical devices area and a polymer processing apprenticeship.  A further 10 programmes are expected to get underway later this year in various sectors including hospitality, financial services and accountancy.

In January this year we published the Action Plan to Expand Apprenticeship and Traineeship in Ireland 2016-2020, which sets out a series of detailed actions and annual targets on how the commitments set out in the Action Plan for Education in the area will be met.

A key commitment set out in the Plan for this year was the issuing of a second call for apprenticeship proposals to refresh the pipeline of proposals already established through the first call. The second call issued on 4 May and will remain open until 1 September.

As well as developments in new apprenticeships, registrations in the craft trades are rising as the employment and economic situation improves. In 2016 there were 3,742 registrations which represents a significant recovery since the crash. This year the upward trend continues with registrations at the end of June of 2,200 which is almost 40% ahead of the same period in 2016. Registrations in the craft trades are predicted to grow to 5,587 over the period to 2020