Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South West, Fianna Fail)
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418. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the measures his Department is considering in order to incentivise the hiring of first-year apprentice construction workers, such as block layers, plasterers and so on; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [60531/21]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Housing for All, published on 2 September 2021, sets out an unprecedented level of collaboration across government and with key stakeholders backed up by historic levels of funding. Working with and enabling the private sector to deliver on housing is central to this plan.

An overarching governance framework has been established in the Department of An Taoiseach to oversee implementation with political oversight provided by the Cabinet Committee on Housing. The Housing for All Delivery Group, comprised of relevant Secretaries General, and chaired by the D/Taoiseach, is responsible for delivery of all aspects of the Plan and ensuring genuine whole-of-government engagement. Three work streams are being led at Secretary General level with specific focus on (i) Investment; (ii) Industry capability; and (iii) Public service delivery.

My Department has taken on chairmanship of the Industry Capability group comprising the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, Department of Social Protection, Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications and other relevant Departments and agencies will as required/requested. The group is responsible for progressing actions and targets on:-

- Initiatives associated with innovation and productivity, skills and capacity,

- Enterprise support, standards and compliance and sectoral engagement, including the CTC and CSG, to facilitate delivery of the objectives of Housing for All.

- Ensuring that residential construction sector has suitable capacity in terms of skilled labour to meet the objectives of Housing for All

- Engaging with industry and initiatives to attract skilled labour and industry capacity from abroad.

Any skill requirement and response to meet the needs of the sector will be determined by the group’s responsibility to facilitate the objectives of Housing for All.

In supporting the Housing for All plan and other skills responses of the wider economy, the Action Plan for Apprenticeship 2021-2025 sets out a clear objective where there will be a single apprenticeship system which will deliver a structure which supports innovation combined with strong national level supports and coordination of the apprenticeship sector.

Prior to the Action Plan for Apprenticeship 2021-2025, the Apprenticeship Incentivisation Scheme was established to ensure that apprenticeship plays a key part in supporting economic recovery following COVID-19. It was introduced in March 2020 and has supported a significant recovery of apprentice registrations in throughout the COVID-19 period. There have been 7,484 registrations so far in 2021 – an increase which not only exceeds expectations of a recovery of 2020 registrations which were badly impacted COVID-19, but also shows a 22% increase on 2019 figures for the same period.

With the increased demand for Craft Apprenticeships, there has been additional pressures to the capacity of the Education and Training System. As a result, there has been a growing number of apprentices who are on waiting lists to access there off the job training. The following actions have been taken to address the growing demand and to clear the waiting lists in an timely and equitable manner:-

- €20m capital funding has been allocated to SOLAS and the HEA (€10m to each sector) to provide additional structural capacity within Training Centres and IoTs/Technological Universities. These places began to come on-stream in September 2021 with a 20% growth on pre-COVID phase 4 and 6 spaces. Availability of training places will continue to grow in the 2022 January, April and September intakes.

- As from September 2021 classes have returned to full capacity of 14-16 apprentices per class, rather than the 50% capacity which had been in place during 2020 and until Q3, 2021 under COVID-19 distancing requirements.

- The structure of Phase 2 delivery in the three most impacted apprenticeships is being reformed, with the institutions and partners working together to deliver an innovative teaching response to reduce waiting lists. On-site teaching will be reduced to 18 weeks of practical work, with theory elements of the Phase delivered around the off-the-job training. This will allow for a third intake of Phase 2 apprentices providing up to a 50% increase in availability of Phase 2 places annually.

- €17m targeted funding has been provided for additional craft apprenticeship classes in 2022 across the further and higher education sectors. €12m has been allocated to higher education provision.

- A significant recruitment campaign is under way to deliver the additional staffing to support the above measures.

- Waiting lists are continually monitored and additional targeted measures will be introduced to ensure that craft apprentices impacted by these delays are enabled to qualify from their apprenticeship as quickly as possible.

Subject to continued access to workshops and training facilities in addition to the rollout of additional places, it is expected that the majority of craft apprentices waiting for off-the-job training for phases 4 and 6 will be cleared by Easter 2022, with phase 2 waiting lists cleared by year-end 2022.