Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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203. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills His plans to pay €3,000 per employer as part of the apprenticeships incentivisation scheme; if the target is 4,000 additional apprenticeships and financial resources allocated is €8 million; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31914/20]

Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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The Apprenticeship Incentivisation Scheme (AIS) provides an employer grant of €3,000 for each new apprentice registered from the 1st March 2020.  €2,000 of the grant is paid to the employer once the apprentice is registered, and a further €1,000 is paid after one year if the apprentice is still in employment at that time. 

As of the 14th October 2020, 631 employers had applied for the scheme in respect of 1,132 apprentice registrations.

Budget 2021 has now extended the scheme to include apprentices registered up to the end of June 2021. This is expected to promote the registration of approximately 4,000 apprentices in the first six months of 2021 at a cost of €8m and a further €4m in 2022.  Second stage payments for 2020 registrations under the scheme will also fall due for payment in 2021.