Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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623. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if apprentices’ off-the-job training can be scheduled in a way that means they will be closer to home in view of Covid-19; and if not, if additional funding will be provided for their accommodation allowance. [25466/20]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The scheduling of craft apprentice off-the-job training is undertaken by SOLAS. Craft apprentices are called for off-the-job training on a longest waiting basis on the day of scheduling to the nearest available Education and Training Board or Institute of Technology. Craft apprentices are entitled to make an application for a travel or accommodation allowance in addition to their weekly training allowance for the duration of the off-the-job training.

Given the relatively small numbers of annual registrations for certain apprenticeships it is not feasible or cost-effective to offer the off-the-job training phase in multiple locations. Unfortunately for some apprentices this means that it is impossible to avoid having to attend training facilities that are not convenient to their locality. Apprentices are informed of the scheduling process at their mandatory induction training.