Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 16 April 2024
755. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the total number of new registrations for apprenticeships, broken down by consortia and craft; the total number of consortia and craft apprentices currently registered; the number of apprentices currently waiting to access off-site training; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16159/24]
View answerBeing demand-led in nature, there are no restrictions on the number of apprentices that can be registered.
There is a strong and growing recognition of apprenticeship as a valuable employment and skills opportunity, reflected in a 25% increase in craft apprenticeship registrations from 5,271 in 2019 to 6,588 in 2023 and a134% increase in consortia-led apprenticeship registrations from 906 in 2019 to 2,124 in 2023.
Registrations remain strong in 2024 with 1,988 registrations to the end of March, composed of 1738 craft and 250 consortia-led apprentices. This brings the total apprentice population to 27,539 at the end of March 2024, composed of 23,307 craft and 4,232 consortia-led apprentices.
Successful delivery of priority Government strategies such as the National Development Plan, Housing for All and the Climate Action Plan will require significant growth in our apprenticeship training capacity.
Increased funding of €67 million allocated to apprenticeship, secured through the Estimates for this year, has brought total investment to €300 million. This is a vital step in building the capacity required to both reduce delays in apprenticeship training and meet future training requirements.
Following an increase of apprenticeship training capacity in recent months, there has been a significant reduction in apprentices waiting longer than 6 months for their off the job training, down from 6,601 in July 2023 to 3,460 as of end March 2024 (3,347 at Phase 2, 95 at Phase 4 and 18 at Phase 6).
It is this Department’s priority to reduce waiting times for training and ensure the apprenticeship system is right-sized to deliver future demand for skilled tradespeople.
