Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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1218. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he intended to conduct an updated review of the cost of providing consortia-led apprenticeships given the increase from 5,100 in 2015 to an estimated 9,877; the targeted cost once programmes are established and set up cost are no longer a factor; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20879/22]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The Government is committed under the Action Plan for Apprenticeship 2021-2025 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]

The scheduling of the next update to this review is a matter for the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.

Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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1219. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the steps that his Department is taking to address low registration levels in certain construction-related trades such as brick-laying and plastering; the apprenticeships that are being targeted in particular; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20880/22]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Apprenticeships are employer-led demand-driven educational and training programmes that aim to develop the skills of an apprentice in order to meet the needs of industry and the labour market.  As apprentices are employees, the demand for and number of apprentices is primarily dictated by the employers in any area or sector

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 

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.

The Apprenticeship Incentivisation Scheme, introduced in July 2020 to ensure that apprenticeship plays a key part in supporting economic recovery following Covid-19, is partly attributable for this success. Continuing this support, the new Employer Grant Scheme provides a grant of €2,000 for employers of apprentices on consortia-led programmes.

On 14th April, my Department announced a new gender-based bursary for apprenticeship employers. The bursary, which is worth €2,666, is available to employers who employ apprentices on any national apprenticeship programme with greater than 80% representation of a single gender. It is being implemented with effect from 01 January 2022, and covers all new apprentice registrations from that date on eligible national apprenticeship programmes.

There are currently 64 apprenticeship programmes on offer ranging from levels 5-10 on the National Framework of Qualifications

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). 

As of 19 April 2022, there has been 1,810 apprenticeship registrations of which 1,597 are craft and the apprenticeship population is 23,927.