I understand that in any particular academic year SOLAS advises the Higher Education Authority (HEA) of the requirement for Phase 4 and 6 apprenticeship training provision. The HEA then apportions this requirement to the relevant Institutes of Technology. Currently eleven Institutes of Technology provide the capacity to deliver Phase 4 and Phase 6 apprenticeship training.
SOLAS is currently reviewing the capacity requirements for the 2015/16 academic year and is scheduled to meet the HEA shortly regarding the 2015/16 academic year requirements. They expect that there will be an increase in the overall provision requirements for both Phase 4 and Phase 6.
With regard to the membership of the Apprenticeship Council, it was considered by the Minister for Education and Skills, Jan O'Sullivan, that, as it was necessary to have a broad range of trade unions represented. It was deemed appropriate to request ICTU to nominate two representatives for appointment to the Council. They have since done so and membership of the Council has been finalised.
One of the first tasks of the Council was to issue a call for proposals from consortia of enterprise sectors and education and training providers for the development of new apprenticeships. This call was issued in January and is open until the end of March 2015. The Apprenticeship Council also held an information day recently for relevant stakeholders in order to clarify any issues associated with the call for proposals. In addition to their central role in relation to existing apprenticeships, it is hoped that Institutes of Technology will engage in the call for proposals process and participate strongly in the development and delivery of new apprenticeships.
The Apprenticeship Implementation Plan which was published last year sets out a clear roadmap for the planned actions to be implemented as part of the review of the apprenticeship system, which includes the establishment of the Apprenticeship Council, the review of existing apprenticeship curricula, the call for proposals, the development of new apprenticeships and the institution of overall governance arrangements for apprenticeship in Ireland.
