Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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172. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if the apprenticeship incentivisation scheme is funded from the National Training Fund; the expenditure in 2020 and to date in 2021; the number of registered apprentices and the percent for which the financial support was received in both 2020 and 2021; the breakdown between craft and consortia-led apprenticeships; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35015/21]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The Apprenticeship Incentivisation Scheme comprises a €2,000 payment when employers register a new apprentice, followed by an additional €1,000 payment one year later where that apprentice is retained. The scheme was initially approved under the July Jobs Stimulus and extended in Budget 2021 for apprentices registering between March 2020 and June 2021. The Minister announced the expansion of the scheme to apprentices registered before the end of 2021 on the 23^rdJune. The scheme is currently funded from the National Training Fund.

The intention of the scheme is to ensure that apprenticeship will play a key part in supporting economic recovery at the reopening of the economy following COVID-19. It had been anticipated that the initial duration and subsequent expansion of the scheme to mid-2021 would cover the re-opening period, however this has not transpired meaning that employers have not had the opportunity to avail of the scheme and re-opening is only now happening in a significant way in the period to year end.

It is intended to include the AIS in the range of measures that will be supported by Ireland’s REACT -EU funding allocation of €88m for 2021. REACT-EU is part of the Next Generation EU instrument and provides €50.6 billion additional funding over the course of 2021 and 2022 to Cohesion policy programmes. It continues and extends the European Union’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and complements the Recovery and Resilience Facility which will support the green, digital and resilient recovery of the economy.

Since the launch of the Incentivisation Scheme, 3,338 online claims have been received by SOLAS in respect of 5,465 apprentices of which 4,307 apprentice claims have been validated to date with a current spend of €8.614m.

* this figure excludes 335 Unique Applications totalling 548 Apprentices that are currently pending initial validation.

* Figures include 4,307 valid claims and claims which are not validated at this point