Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 30 November 2021
70. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the take-up of the apprenticeship incentivisation scheme; the details of the new grant for employers of apprenticeship participants who are not benefitting from direct off-the-job training allowance payments as announced in Budget 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [58625/21]
View answerThe Apprenticeship Incentivisation Scheme was established to ensure that apprenticeship plays a key part in supporting economic recovery following COVID-19. It was introduced in March 2020 and has supported a significant recovery of apprentice registrations in throughout the COVID-19 period, enabling registrations so far this year to exceed registrations for 2019.
There have been 6,471 registrations so far in 2021 – an increase which not only exceeds expectations of a recovery of 2020 registrations which were badly impacted COVID-19, but also shows a 25% increase on 2019 figures for the same period.
Up to the end of October 2021, almost €12m has been approved under the Scheme in respect of 5,971 apprentice registrations, with over 3,000 unique employers availing of it. The Scheme will end for new applications on 31st December 2021.
Currently craft apprentices are paid training allowances directly by the ETBs and not their employers during their three periods of off-the-job training. This will continue for the 25 programmes currently covered under this process.
Under the Action Plan for Apprenticeship 2021-2025, employers of all other apprentices will become eligible for an annual grant of €2,000 per apprentice. The implementation details are being worked through with a view to ensuring that the scheme is effective and introduced on a timely basis.
This will be supplemented by further practical measures to support the employment of apprentices in SMEs, and measures to support the employment of underrepresented groups in apprenticeship and the delivery of skills essential to the economy. Initial activity in this area will be delivered through the extension of the existing bursary for employers of female craft apprentices to all apprenticeships with over 80% representation of a single gender.
The employer grant along with these other initiatives have the potential to play a very important role in securing engagement with employers in addressing barriers to participation in the apprenticeship system.
