Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 30 November 2021
104. Deputy John Brady asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the efforts that are being made to address the backlog of apprentices who are waiting to complete block release training; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [58619/21]
View answerCraft apprenticeships account for 25 of the 62 existing available apprenticeship programmes. Given the practical nature of off-the-job training for craft apprentices, the COVID-related shutdown of on-site learning activity in 2020 and 2021 had a significant impact on the ability of craft apprentices to access off-the-job training.
These measures have resulted in waiting lists for apprentices wishing to progress to off-the-job phases of their training. At the end of October over 10,300 craft apprentices were waiting for an off-the-job training space. Almost 70% of these were in one of three apprenticeships: Electrical, Plumbing and Carpentry & Joinery.
Off-the-job training for craft apprenticeships generally takes place in three phases – Phase 2 is 22 weeks delivered in an ETB Training Centre, with Phases 4 and 6 each of between 10-12 weeks in duration are delivered in IoTs or Technological Universities.
The following measures have been put in places to increase capacity to address the waiting lists:-
- €20m capital funding has been allocated to SOLAS and the HEA to provide additional structural capacity within Training Centres and IoTs/Technological Universities. These places began to come on stream in September 2021, with 2,500 apprentices starting phases 4 or 6 compared to 2,100 in January 2020 (pre-COVID).
- As from September 2021 classes have returned to full capacity of 14-16 apprentices per class, rather than the 50% capacity which had been in place during 2020 and until Q3, 2021 under COVID-19 distancing requirements.
- The structure of Phase 2 delivery in the three most impacted apprenticeships is being reformed, with the institutions and partners working together to deliver an innovative teaching response to reduce waiting lists. On-site teaching will be reduced to 18 weeks of practical work, with theory elements of the Phase delivered around the off-the-job training. This will allow for a third intake of Phase 2 apprentices providing up to a 50% increase in availability of Phase 2 places annually.
- €17m targeted funding has been provided for additional craft apprenticeship classes in 2022 across the further and higher education sectors.
- A significant recruitment campaign is under way to deliver the additional staffing to support the above measures.
- Waiting lists are continually monitored and additional targeted measures will be introduced to ensure that craft apprentices impacted by these delays are enabled to qualify from their apprenticeship as quickly as possible.
Subject to continued access to workshops and training facilities in addition to the rollout of additional places, it is expected that the majority of craft apprentices waiting for off-the-job training for phases 4 and 6 will be cleared by Easter 2021, with phase 2 waiting lists cleared by year-end 2022.
