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Apprenticeship Programmes

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 12 June 2018

Tuesday, 12 June 2018

Ceisteanna (343)

Brendan Smith

Ceist:

343. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Education and Skills his views on a recent report (details supplied) on the availability of skilled personnel for a sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24703/18]

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Freagraí scríofa

The report referred to by the Deputy states that firms are experiencing a shortage of qualified construction tradespeople across the family of construction trades and apprenticeships. Securing skills supply from the education and training to the construction sector is a major focus of my Department as part of broader Government actions to increase housing supply and roll out the National Development Plan and the National Planning Framework.

Construction related apprentice registrations increased from 1,713 in 2015 to 2,314 in 2016 which represents an increase of 35%. This trend continued in 2017 with a further increase of 28% on the 2016 figure bringing the total number of construction related registrations to 2,963.

Apprenticeship is a demand driven educational and training programme, which aims to develop the skills of an apprentice in order to meet the needs of industry and the labour market. Consequently, the number of construction related apprentices being registered is determined by employers within the construction sector. My Department and SOLAS are committed to supporting the registration of apprentices in the construction sector. Registrations on craft apprenticeships are forecast to increase further up to 2020.

As the Deputy is aware, we are currently expanding the range of apprenticeships on offer to meet the identified skill needs of industry. Arising from our first call for apprenticeship proposals in 2015 an apprenticeship in Engineering Services Management, with the Construction Industry Federation (CIF) as industry lead, is currently being developed into a national apprenticeship programme. In addition, we recently announced 26 new programmes, arising from last year’s second call for proposals, to be further developed into national apprenticeships, including a scaffolding apprenticeship, again with the CIF as industry lead and a senior quantity surveyor apprenticeship with the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland as industry lead. These new programmes, once developed, will add to and complement the range of apprenticeships currently on offer in developing the skill needs identified by the sector.

In relation to the wet trades, highlighted as areas of particular concern in the report, SOLAS in partnership with CIF and Waterford Wexford Education and Training Board (WWETB) operated a pilot initiative in the last year to test the viability of a shared apprenticeship scheme. Following analysis of the pilot outcomes and in consultation with both the CIF and WWETB, I understand that SOLAS decided not to operationalise the pilot initiative more widely. In particular, it was found that the pilot did not attract employers in sufficient numbers to suggest that the scheme had the potential to have a significant impact on apprenticeship recruitment. However, I understand from SOLAS that they are currently in discussions with representatives from the construction industry to assess how the scheme could be made more viable.

I intend to meet with the Construction Industry Federation in the coming weeks to discuss the report in question and I look forward to engaging with them on issues relating to employer engagement with the apprenticeship programme.

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