Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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259. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to overturn the decision in budget 2014 to impose the new pro rata student contribution. [34947/17]

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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260. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to reinstate the State contribution to fund apprenticeship fees. [34948/17]

John Halligan (Waterford, Independent)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 259 and 260 together.

Since 2004, FÁS/SOLAS paid a part of the Annual Student Contribution (ASC) due in respect of apprentices, with apprentices themselves paying the part of the contribution relating to examination fees. As part of Budget 2014, SOLAS has ceased making payments to Institutes of Technology (IoTs) and apprentices pay the full pro rataAnnual Student Contribution. These arrangements mean that apprentices are treated the same, on a pro ratabasis for the proportion of a full academic year they spend in IoTs, as full-time students in terms of the ASC. Typically an apprenticeship block is one third of an academic year, meaning that most apprentices pay €1,000 (one third of the full ASC of €3,000) as their ASC for that period.

However, unlike full-time students, apprentices are paid a training allowance by SOLAS for phases of their training spent in IoTs. This allowance ranges from €293 to €647 per week depending on the trade and phase of the apprenticeship programme. This is the equivalent to their net take-home pay on the job, and is not subject to tax or PRSI. Such allowances are not available to students in the IoTs.