Vol. 519 No. 5
97 Mr. Currie asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if her attention has been drawn to the apparent anomaly when an apprentice electrician on a FÁS course receives substantially less than another apprentice electrician doing the same course because his employer is not deemed a construction company (details supplied); and her views on the matter. [14167/00]
An apprentice's training allowance is based on the net pay the apprentice would normally receive from the employer if being paid the agreed industry norms. The industry norms are the wage agreements that are reached in the different industry sectors, which are notified to FÁS by the employer bodies and the trade unions. These norms vary from sector to sector.
The training allowance paid to an apprentice is determined by the sector in which the apprentice is employed, and not according to the trade. The apprentice referred to by the Deputy is employed in the engineering sector and would, therefore, be subject to a different wage agreement and consequently a different off-the-job wage-training allowance to that pertaining to an apprentice electrician employed in the construction sector.
