I propose to take Questions Nos. 342, 343 and 350 together.
My Department is currently carrying out a review of the Irish Apprenticeship training model, with a view to providing an updated model of training that delivers the necessary skilled workforce to service the needs of a rapidly changing economy and to ensure an appropriate balance between supply and demand. The numbers in apprenticeship are currently entirely demand driven and are determined by the numbers taken on as apprentices by employers. Apprentices are paid a training allowances by SOLAS for phases of their training spent off the job. This allowance is equivalent to the wages they receive from their employers for on the job phases and is unaffected by the budgetary changes.
There is no inequality of treatment between apprentices and other students in Institutes of Technology. The Annual Student Contribution is levied on students attending Institutes of Technology. The amount due by apprentices is calculated on a pro rata basis of the time which they spend in Institutes of Technology during the academic year. This is typically one third of the Annual Student Contribution paid by students attending for the full academic year but it can be greater for certain trades where longer periods are spent in Institutes of Technology. Since 2004, FÁS/SOLAS has paid a part of the Annual Student Contribution due in respect of apprentices, with apprentices themselves paying the part of the contribution relating to examination fees. As part of Budget 2014, SOLAS will cease making payments to Institutes of Technology and apprentices will pay the full pro rata Annual Student Contribution.
In 2014, 2,704 places have been made available in Institutes of Technology for apprentices in the fourth and sixth phases of their apprenticeship.