Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 25 May 2021
457. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the approach he plans to take to develop a central hub in which applicants for apprenticeships and employers in the relevant sectors could be matched off; and the way in which he plans to attract employers to use such a hub that might have used less formal routes of recruitment before. [27560/21]
View answerThe Apprenticeship Jobs Portal (www.apprenticeshipjobs.ie) was launched in April 2019 to enhance the visibility and accessibility of apprentice job vacancies, and to assist small companies to advertise apprentice vacancies to a wide audience. Although not a matching system the platform is building traction month-on-month, with over 1,200 employers now registered on the site and over 250 job vacancies posted since its launch. Work is continuing to bring all apprentice employers on-board the system.
Under the Action Plan for Apprenticeship 2012-2025, all apprentice vacancies will be advertised on or linked from the site by the end of 2021. Additional financial and non-financial supports including sector or programme specific recruitment supports for employers and in particular SMEs, will be rolled out during the lifetime of the plan to increase employer engagement and visibility of apprenticeship to applicants. Further enhancements will be considered by the new National Apprenticeship Office over the lifetime of the plan.
Learners of all ages can currently access information and link through to relevant study and education options from www.gov.ie/therightcourse. Work has also commenced towards simplifying student application procedures across the tertiary education sector (further and higher education) with initial engagement underway between this Department, the CAO and SOLAS on how application processes could be presented to learners in an easily accessible manner.
