Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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64. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of current and planned apprenticeships; the take-up in the construction sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12771/22]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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A key objective of the Action Plan for Apprenticeship 2021-2025 is to ensure that the apprenticeship system will increase its contribution to meeting Ireland’s skills and human capital requirements by delivering on a target of 10,000 apprenticeship registrations per annum by 2025

There are currently 62 apprenticeship programmes on offer ranging from levels 5-10 on the National Framework of Qualifications: 25 craft programmes and 37 programmes introduced since 2016. These range in duration from 2-4 years. They comprise both on-the-job and off-the-job phases. The off-the-job training is delivered in Training Centres, Institutes of Technology, Technological Universities and other higher education institutions, depending on the programme in question.

A further 17 additional programmes are being developed across agriculture, construction, engineering, equine, finance, horticulture, hospitality and food, ICT and logistics. A number of other potential apprenticeships are at an exploratory stage, in sectors such as health, beauty, environmental, engineering, ICT and finance. 

Among the 62 apprenticeships, construction related programmes include electrical, plumbing, carpentry and joinery, plastering, painting and decorating and the recently launched scaffolding apprenticeship. Apprenticeships are also in development in roofing and cladding (L5) and advanced quantity surveyor (L9).

In recent years, annual intake in construction related apprenticeships has steadily been increasing, from a low of 650 in 2010 rising to 3,499 in 2019. In 2021, a record 8,607 new apprentices were registered. This was an almost 40% increase on the figures from 2019, the last “normal” pre-pandemic year. 6,955 of these registrations were in craft apprenticeships, and of these, 5,181 were in construction and electrical apprenticeships. As of January 2022 (the latest full month figures available), there have been 524 apprenticeship registrations, with 376 of these on construction-related programmes.