Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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166. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the total annual student contribution charge to each consortia-led apprenticeship for each phase in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18864/22]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Most apprentices complete part of their off-the-job training in a higher education institution, for which they are required to pay a student contribution.

The amount payable is a proportion of the annual student contribution for students attending a full-time course in higher education.

Please find attached the annual student contribution charge for each consortia-led apprenticeship calculated for the duration of the programme. There is no annual student contribution charge required for the programmes marked €0.

Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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167. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the total amount spent each year on each form of apprenticeship support since 2006, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18865/22]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The information requested by the Deputy in relation to the total amount spent each year on each form of apprenticeship support since 2006 is being compiled by SOLAS. An answer will be forwarded to the Deputy as soon as possible.

Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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168. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the rates of support for an apprentice under each support scheme since 2006, in tabular form; and if he has considered increasing the level of apprentice supports given the cost-of-living crisis; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18866/22]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The information requested by the Deputy in relation to the rates of support for an apprentice under each support scheme since 2006 is being compiled by SOLAS. An answer will be forwarded to the Deputy as soon as possible.

Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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169. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the average cost to the Exchequer for each craft apprentice and consortia-led apprentice each year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18867/22]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The Government is committed under the Action Plan to working with employers to promote, enable, and support the recruitment and training of apprentices. There is a very substantial allocation of resources to apprenticeships drawing on the funding raised through the Employer Training Levy into the National Training Fund. Therefore, apprenticeships are not a direct cost to the exchequer.

In 2019, the last pre-Covid full year, registrations were at 6,177. 2020 saw 5,326 registrations, and by 2021 there were a record 8,607 registrations. The associated expenditure for those years was €160m in 2019, €184 in 2020, and €198m in 2021. The 2022 budget allocation for apprenticeship is €206m.

Calculating a cost-per-apprentice is a complex matter involving fixed costs, such as programme development costs, and variable costs per participating apprentice. The nature of specific apprenticeships is also an influencing factor. The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform published a Spending Review of Apprenticeships in 2019. This estimated the average annual cost per apprentice in craft apprenticeships at €7,159 and €9,877 for consortia-led programmes.

[igees.gov.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Review-of-Participation-and-Costs-of-Apprenticeships.pdf]

Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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170. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the anticipated number of fully qualified tradespeople to have completed apprenticeships in 2022; the number in the construction sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18868/22]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Craft apprenticeships account for 25 of the 64 existing available apprenticeship programmes. They comprise of a standard seven phase programme of alternating on-the-job and off-the-job phases. The off-the-job training for these programmes is delivered in Training Centres, Institutes of Technology and Technological Universities

The full estimated projected figure of fully qualified tradespeople for 2022 is 2,670, of which 1,929 are anticipated across the construction family of trades (inclusive of the electrical apprenticeship programme).

The actual certification figure will depend on several factors throughout the year and will be confirmed at the end of 2022.

Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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171. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the set that his Department is taking to address low registration levels in certain construction-related trades; the apprenticeships that are being targeted in particular; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18869/22]

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 64 apprenticeship programmes on offer ranging from levels 5-10 on the National Framework of Qualifications: 25 craft programmes and 39 consortia programmes introduced since 2016. These range in duration from 2-4 years.

Among the 64 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 February 2022 (the latest full month figures available), there have been 887 craft apprenticeship registrations, with 701 of these in construction related programmes. This is an increase on January 2022 figures where there were 468 craft apprenticeships registrations, of which 379 were in construction-related programmes.