Mairéad Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
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640. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the reason an apprentice has not yet been called by Solas to complete their block release training; the avenues that are open to someone in such a position; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19128/23]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Under the Further Education and Training Act (2013), SOLAS has statutory responsibility for planning, funding, and co-ordinating Further Education and Training (FET) in Ireland.

My officials have referred your query to SOLAS for direct reply on this individual matter. Solas has confirmed the individual will be called for training beginning in September 2023.

The apprentice and their employer will each receive a letter approximately 6 to 8 weeks prior to the course beginning providing them details of location they have been scheduled to.

For future queries on their apprenticeship the apprentice should contact their Training Adviser.

Mairéad Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
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641. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will provide the list of first-year, second-year, third-year and fourth-year apprentices that have completed the requisite on-the-job training for that year, but have yet to be called by Solas to undertake their block release training, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19129/23]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Craft apprenticeship is modelled on a series of on-the-job (Phase 1, 3, 5, & 7 in the workplace) and off-the-job (Phase 2, 4, & 6 in the education or training centre) components. Apprenticeship programmes are standard based, they are not time based, so the question’s assumption of there being “first-year, second-year, third-year and fourth-year apprentices” is erroneous. For craft apprenticeship programmes, there are 7-phases. While 4 years are estimated for completion, it would be incorrect to equivocate this to the typical 4-year degree programme of a college course.

The SBA model requires an element of flexibility for the employer and for the apprentice. This allows for circumstances arising that may affect timelines, in line with employer and apprentice requirements. As a result, the time for completion of a craft apprenticeship may fluctuate throughout the lifespan of their apprenticeship and a typical waiting time between phases of 6 months is considered part of the normal cycle of the SBA apprenticeship model.

For the individual apprentice, the Covid-19 impact lengthened the apprenticeship training duration beyond the normally anticipated 4-years, considerably so in some cases. As each phase is critical to the overall training and skills development of an apprentice, being in one phase for an extended period of time cannot offset for time needed in a later phase of the apprenticeship due to competence assessment requirements.

At its peak in August 2021, there were over 11,000 apprentices waiting for their off-the-job training. Since then, there has been a major response across the craft apprenticeship system to the delays in accessing off-the-job training and significant progress achieved in the numbers waiting over six months. These stood at almost 5,000 in December and are now reduced to 4,647, notwithstanding continued strong growth in registrations throughout the year.

The number of apprentices currently on an on-the-job phasewith their employer, in tabular form, is attached.