Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 18 December 2018
208. Deputy Maurice Quinlivan asked the Minister for Education and Skills the status of the actions he is taking to ensure a greater female participation rate in apprenticeships; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52925/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraThere are currently 332 female apprentices registered across the 42 apprenticeship schemes currently on offer, which represents an increase of 120% on the 2017 figure of 151 and of over 450% on the 2016 figure of 60.
The 2014 Review of Apprenticeship in Ireland acknowledged that the number of women employed in craft apprenticeships is low as they operate in sectors that have traditionally low levels of female employment. SOLAS offers a bursary to employers to encourage them to employ female apprentices in these areas.
However, we have seen an increase in the number of female apprentices participating in many of the new apprenticeships developed as part of the expansion of apprenticeship in Ireland as these are in sectors where there would be greater gender balance in the workplace. For example, women are more strongly represented in the financial sector with women representing 43% of participants across the four apprenticeships. Women also feature more strongly in the new hospitality apprenticeships. With further new programmes to get underway in sectors that would have strong female participation in the workplace it is expected that the number of female apprentices will continue to rise year on year.
While this is welcome, it is also important to address issues influencing the low level of recruitment of women in the craft sectors. In this regard, as set out in our Action Plan to Expand Apprenticeship and Traineeship in Ireland, SOLAS has completed a review on the pathways to participation in apprenticeship for underrepresented groups including females. The purpose of the review is to ensure that our national apprenticeship system is more reflective of the range and diversity of our population, more inclusive of diverse backgrounds and abilities and that apprenticeship opportunities are more readily accessible to all. The review is available on the SOLAS website www.solas.ie.
Work is already underway in many of the areas identified for action and SOLAS will lead implementation of the actions, working closely with apprenticeship partners and stakeholders, in particular employers, education and training providers and apprentices themselves. The areas highlighted for action include setting targets for female participation for 2019 and 2020, considering extending the employer bursary to apprenticeships which have less than 20% female participation and promoting the bursary incentive with employers as part of the Generation Apprenticeship national promotional campaign.
Furthermore, women feature prominently in all aspects of the national promotional campaign, Generation Apprenticeship and there is a specific focus on encouraging women and girls to consider apprenticeship as a means of launching or developing their careers. The campaign which is led by the Apprenticeship Council and with co-ordination support from SOLAS promotes apprenticeship on TV and radio along with social media platforms that include Twitter; LinkedIn; Facebook and Instagram.
