Apprenticeship Programmes

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 25 October 2017

Wednesday, 25 October 2017

Ceisteanna (71, 78)

Thomas P. Broughan

Ceist:

71. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of persons who have completed an apprenticeship programme in each of the years 2014 to 2016 and to date in 2017; his plans for an apprenticeship degree programme as in the UK; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44814/17]

Thomas P. Broughan

Ceist:

78. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of places that will be available on the ten new apprenticeship programmes announced in budget 2018; when they will commence; and his plans for an apprenticeship degree programme as in the UK. [44815/17]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister of State at the Department of Education and Skills

The information sought be the Deputy in relation to the number of people who have completed their apprenticeship programme is set out in the attached table.  It should be noted that craft apprenticeships are four years in duration.  Therefore, the number of completers set out in the attached table reflect apprentices that commenced their programme four years earlier, at a time when registrations where much lower than they are currently. 

As the Deputy is aware, the Apprenticeship Council was established in 2014 to oversee the expansion of the apprenticeship system in Ireland. Since its first call for proposals the Council has been working with consortia to develop their proposals into sustainable apprenticeships that can be delivered on a nationwide basis. To date eleven new apprenticeships have been developed by the Council in various occupations such as accounting, finance and engineering. A number of these new programmes lead to an award on the National Framework of Qualifications (NFQ) at degree level (levels 7 & 8) such as Insurance Practice (level 8), Electrical Engineering (level 7), Polymer Processing Technology (Level 7), Manufacturing Engineering (Level 7) and International Financial Services Specialist (level 8). Other programmes, arising from the first call, are at various stages of development and are expected to get underway later this year and during 2018, many of which lead to an award at level 7 and above on the NFQ.

Earlier this year we published the Action Plan to Expand Apprenticeship and Traineeship in Ireland 2016-2020 which sets out a series of detailed actions and annual targets on how we will achieve the expansion commitments in the area set out in the Action Plan for Education.   A key commitment for this year set out in the Plan was the issuing of a second call for apprenticeship proposals to refresh the pipeline of proposals already established through the first call. The second call closed on the 1st September with 77 proposals received across arrange of sectors and occupations and at various levels on the NFQ.  The Apprenticeship Council is currently assessing proposals received and will make its recommendations to me in November.  I am confident that, as was the case with the first call, there will be a good spread of proposals recommended for development across all levels of the NFQ.

As set out in our Plan we have targeted a further ten new schemes for 2018 which will bring the total new apprenticeships to 25, almost doubling the number of apprenticeship schemes on offer in Ireland.  As the apprenticeship model is employer led, it is difficult to quantify, at this stage, how many places will be taken up in the ten new schemes scheduled for next year. However, the Action Plan targets 1,500 new registrations for 2018 across all of the new apprenticeships developed to date and introduced during the year.

Advanced Certificate Craft - Certs Issued by QQI 2014-2016 & 2017 ytd.

		2014	2015	2016 *	2017ytd *	Total
Construction
	Brick and Stonelaying	30	18	5	6	59
	Cabinet Making	15	7	6	3	31
	Carpentry and Joinery	181	110	95	71	457
	Floor and Wall Tiling	2		2		4
	Painting and Decorating	10	10	7	2	29
	Plastering	17	12	6	10	45
	Plumbing	206	152	113	121	592
	Wood Manufacturing and Finishing	2	5	9	6	22
		463	314	243	219	1239
Electrical
	Aircraft Mechanics	16	36	19	16	87
	Electrical	469	353	362	326	1510
	Electrical Instrumentation	9	16	20	25	70
	Electronic Security Systems	10	5	10	4	29
	Instrumentation	1	2	5	4	12
	Refrigeration and Air Conditioning	24	22	22	28	96
		529	434	438	403	1804
Engineering
	Farriery	5	5	6	1	17
	Industrial Insulation	5			1	6
	M.A.M.F.	68	82	93	91	334
	Metal Fabrication	75	47	70	83	275
	Sheet Metalworking	12	5	12	9	38
	Toolmaking	20	32	38	41	131
		185	171	219	226	801
Motor
	Agricultural Mechanics	16	17	28	22	83
	Construction Plant Fitting	30	33	28	31	122
	Heavy Vehicle Mechanics	59	48	55	59	221
	Motor Mechanics	140	165	182	169	656
	Vehicle Body Repairs	36	35	19	12	102
		281	298	312	293	1184
	Printing & Paper
	Print Media	7	4	8	3	22
	Total	7	4	8	3	22
Grand Total		1465	1221	1220	1144	5050

*figures above do not include completers on new Apprenticeships as the first of these only commenced in 2016.