Written answers
Thursday, 19 May 2022
Department of Education and Skills
Apprenticeship Programmes
Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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322. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the extent to which extra apprenticeship places are being created and available throughout the country; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25626/22]
Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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323. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the degree to which apprenticeship places are being taken up by students; the extent to which sufficient places are available; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25627/22]
Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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330. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the extent to which apprenticeships are likely to be taken up in County Kildare and throughout the country over the next five years with a view to strengthening the technical side of education in order to meet requirements; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25634/22]
Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 322, 323 and 330 together.
Apprenticeships are employer led demand driven educational and training programmes, which 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.
The Action Plan for Apprenticeship 2021 – 2025 set a target of 10,000 annual registrations by 2025.
Apprenticeship registrations in 2021 were the highest they have been since 2007, with 8,607 apprentices registered. The current apprentice population is over 24,000, the highest it has been since 2009. Of last year’s registrations, 6,955 were in craft apprenticeship programmes, with over 60% of these in the Electrical, Plumbing and Carpentry and Joinery crafts. As of Monday, 16 May 2022, there have been 2,286 registrations (1,997 craft and 289 on post 2016/consortia led apprenticeships)
A key strength of the apprenticeship model, as highlighted in the Action Plan for Apprenticeship, is that it is a demand-led approach to meeting workforce and skill requirements in our economy. For example in the case of craft apprenticeship, the number of places is determined by employers, with off-the-job training provided to all registered apprentices. Apprenticeships established since 2016 have one or more intakes per annum with the take-up determined by employer engagement and available apprentice jobs provided by employers.
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