My Department has been working with the European Alliance for Apprenticeships to achieve a common goal of increasing the quality, supply and attractiveness of apprenticeships. As part of these commitments my Department undertook in 2013 to carry out a review of the Apprenticeship system in Ireland.
An independent group produced the Review of Apprenticeship Training in Ireland, which was published in 2014. The review contained a range of recommendations to expand participation of apprenticeship, including the establishment of an Apprenticeship Council. The Council was established in November 2014 and immediately began work on a call for proposals for the development of new enterprise-led apprenticeships. The call issued in January 2015 and over 80 proposals were received from industry stakeholders working with education and training providers. The Apprenticeship Council has been working with the proposers of these new programmes to develop them in sustainable apprenticeships that can be delivered on a nationwide basis. The funding for planned and forecast expansion in 2017 will see an additional €20 million provided.
An Action Plan to expand Apprenticeship and Traineeship in Ireland 2016-2020 was launched on 26th January 2017 and sets out how state agencies, education and training providers and employers will work together to deliver on the Programme for Government commitments on the expansion of apprenticeship and traineeship in the period to 2020. 50,000 people will be registered on apprenticeship and traineeship programmes over the lifetime of the Action Plan, a doubling of current activity.
The Plan sets out how we will manage the pipeline of new apprenticeships already established through the first call for proposals and also commits to a new call for apprenticeship proposals in 2017. The Plan sets out a clear 10 step path for the development of new apprenticeships and also sets an overall development timeline for a new apprenticeship of 12-15 months. The Plan also commits to examining the potential for public sector engagement with the apprenticeship system.
The Insurance Practitioner Apprenticeship, the first of the new programmes developed through the Apprenticeship Council’s first call for proposals, launched in September 2016 and an Industrial Engineer Apprenticeship commenced in November 2016. 13 further new apprenticeships are due to launch later this year in various sectors including medical devices, polymer processing and financial services.
In addition, a campaign to promote apprenticeship is currently being developed by SOLAS in consultation with key partners, including the Apprenticeship Council. The campaign will raise awareness and promote the value of apprenticeship for individual apprentices and for employers and it will cover both existing apprenticeships and the new apprenticeships now coming on stream.
