Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 14 June 2022
1221. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the average cost of a consortia-led apprentice per year including the employer incentivisation scheme; if the consortia-led scheme is funded from the National Training Fund; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29130/22]
View answerThere is a very substantial allocation of resources to apprenticeships drawing on the funding raised through the Employer Training Levy into the National Training Fund. Therefore, apprenticeships are not a direct cost to the exchequer.
In 2019, the last pre-Covid full year, registrations were at 6,177. 2020 saw 5,326 registrations, and by 2021 there were a record 8,607 registrations. The associated expenditure for those years was €160m in 2019, €184m in 2020, and €198m in 2021. The 2022 budget allocation for apprenticeship is €206m.
Regarding the employer incentivisation scheme the most recent figures available on costs are from the start of April. The total number of employer applications validated up to 4th April 2022 was 5859, covering a total of 8762 apprentices representing a potential value of €17.524m.
Calculating a cost-per-apprentice is a complex matter involving fixed costs, such as programme development costs, and variable costs per participating apprentice. The nature of specific apprenticeships is also an influencing factor. The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform published a Spending Review of Apprenticeships in 2019. This estimated the average annual cost per apprentice in craft apprenticeships at €7,159 and €9,877 for consortia-led programmes.
[igees.gov.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Review-of-Participation-and-Costs-of-Apprenticeships.pdf]
The scheduling of the next update to this review is a matter for the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.
