Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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159. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the status of an action (details supplied) under the Action Plan for Rural Development; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37122/18]

John Halligan (Waterford, Independent)
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The Action Plan to Expand Apprenticeship and Traineeship in Ireland 2016-2020 sets out a series of detailed actions and annual targets on how the expansion commitments in the area set out in the Action Plan for Education will be met. Over the lifetime of the plan 50,000 learners will register on apprenticeship and traineeship programmes. This represents a more than doubling of activity by 2020.

This Government is committed to expanding the apprenticeship model into new sectors of the economy. Arising from our two calls for apprenticeship proposals in 2015 and 2017 fourteen new apprenticeships have been developed in a wide range of sectors, including financial services, engineering, ICT, hospitality, logistics and accounting. Further new apprenticeships across a wide variety of sectors including construction, engineering, horticulture and agriculture will get underway later in 2018 and throughout 2019.

As well as developments in new apprenticeships, as the employment and economic situation continues to improve, we have seen strong growth in registrations across the craft trades nationally during 2017 with 4,508 at year end, which represents a 20% increase on 2016.

This Government is also prioritising the expansion of traineeship offerings. To date, an additional thirteen new traineeships have been developed in areas such as hospitality, engineering, logistics and animation. These new programmes will complement the existing programmes on offer. The programmes have been designed by ETBs working in collaboration with employers to meet identified skill needs. In addition, eligibility criteria on participation has been broadened to include school leavers, older learners and people in employment.

Apprenticeships and traineeships have a good regional spread and the delivery of Action Plan to Expand Apprenticeship and Traineeship will bring real opportunities for learners and employers throughout the country.