Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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216. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if an analysis was done by his Department of the reason there are low levels of registrations in the construction sector and especially in wet trades for craft-based apprenticeships and in the overall apprenticeship population; and the policy responses he plans to counteract same. [22484/18]

John Halligan (Waterford, Independent)
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Construction related apprenticeship registrations increased from 1,713 in 2015 to 2,314 in 2016 which represents an increase of 35%.  This trend continued in 2017 with a further increase of 28% on the 2016 figure bringing the total number of construction related registrations to 2,963.

Apprenticeship is a demand driven educational and training programme, which aims to develop the skills of an apprentice in order to meet the needs of industry and the labour market.  Consequently, the number of construction related apprentices being registered is determined by employers within the construction sector. My Department and SOLAS are committed to supporting the registration of apprentices in the construction sector. Registrations on craft apprenticeships are forecast to increase further up to 2020.

In relation to the wet trades, as the Deputy is aware SOLAS, in partnership with Construction Industry Federation (CIF) and Waterford Wexford Education and Training Board (WWETB), operated a pilot initiative in the last year to test the viability of a shared apprenticeship scheme.  Following analysis of the pilot outcomes and in consultation with both the CIF and WWETB, I understand that SOLAS decided not to operationalise the pilot initiative more widely.  In particular, it was found that the pilot did not attract employers in sufficient numbers to suggest that the scheme had the potential to have a significant impact on apprenticeship recruitment.  However, I understand from SOLAS that they are currently in discussions with representatives from the construction industry to assess how the scheme could be made more viable.