Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 15 December 2020
114. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the progress which has been made to date in getting Departments to commit to recruiting a cohort of apprentices each year. [43171/20]
View answerThe Programme for Government has committed to taking the lead on boosting the availability and uptake of apprenticeships, by providing government apprenticeship schemes. Apprenticeship is an employer led offering. As such, and given the employment status of apprentices, apprentices will need to be included within public sector employment ceilings where these exist. Apprenticeships should therefore be focused on areas of identified skills needs within the sector.
Craft apprenticeships are well established within the public sector with in the region of 200 craft apprentices in employment across the sector. In addition to craft apprentices, 40 ICT and 10 Accounting Technician apprentices were recruited in 2019 and employed across 10 Departments and agencies.
Feedback from individuals involved in the ICT apprenticeship programme has emphasised the need to have relevant supports and procedures in place for apprentices at the commencement of their programme. The availability of mentor staff is critical to the success of the programme for individual apprentices, particularly in the challenging post COVID-19 environment.
The Action Plan for Apprenticeship for the coming 5 year period is under development. In addition to the Programme for Government commitment, the role of the public sector in apprenticeship recruitment was raised by a number of stakeholders during the consultation process and proposals in this area are informing the new action plan.
