Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 20 October 2020
91. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the amount allocated in additional funding in budget 2021 to craft apprenticeships; the number of consortia-led apprenticeships which have been created since 2016; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31359/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraThis question relates to the additional funding that has been allocated to craft apprenticeships and to ask the Minister about the number of consortia-led apprenticeships which have been created since 2016. I very much welcome the extra money that has been put into apprenticeships but I want the information to be accessible to people. I want more encouragement for students and young people to take up apprenticeships.
I thank the Deputy for her question. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the associated education and training centre closures, the number of craft apprenticeship classes that could be run in 2020 was reduced. Some €12 million is being provided in 2021 to fund 2,000 apprenticeship places to mitigate the effect of lost provision in 2020 and the effect of smaller apprenticeship class sizes required by social distancing measures.
The apprenticeship incentivisation scheme, which provides a grant of €3,000 to employers for each new apprentice registered, is also being extended for the first half of 2021. This applies to all apprenticeships, including in the craft area, and is expected to support at least 3,500 employers in the first six months of 2021 at a cost of €7 million in 2021 and a further €3.5 million in 2022.
Some €2,000 of the grant is paid once the apprentice is registered, and a further €1,000 is paid after one year if the apprentice is still employed at that point.
Second-stage payments for the 2020 registrations under the scheme will be in excess of €3.7 million in 2021. Longer-term funding and support measures will be considered in the context of the next action plan for apprenticeship, which will be completed before the end of the year.
Thirty-three consortia-led apprenticeships have been launched since 2016, with a further three to launch before the end of the year. These are in diverse areas, such as biopharma, insurance, ICT and recruitment. Programmes range from two to four years and lead to qualifications at Quality and Qualifications Ireland levels 5 to 10. In addition, there are 20 more programmes in development.
I thank the Minister of State. I very much welcome that. Is there a single portal where young people can gain access to information on apprenticeships? Could we think about developing a separate app just for apprenticeships so we could make people, particularly the young, aware of what is available and what an apprenticeship might mean for them? Over recent years, apprenticeships have been the poor relation to third level education. There is no point in our having all these apprenticeships if we are not communicating effectively with the people who need to access them and if we are not encouraging people and dealing with employers. We know from research that a genuine issue arises over career guidance available to students. This has a knock-on effect.
I thank the Deputy. To answer her question, there is a single portal, www.apprenticeships.ie, which is quite all-encompassing and gives as much information as is readily available on the range of apprenticeships. The Minister and I have encouraged people at every opportunity to access it.
On the question on what is being done to attract more young people to apprenticeships, the national promotional campaign Generation Apprenticeship has been under way since May 2017. It has been designed to influence parents, teachers and potential apprentices on the career paths and further educational opportunities arising from apprenticeship programmes. I refer to the rolling out of the 2020 Generation Apprenticeship competition at second level, involving 156 second level schools, Youthreach centres and community training centres, and the launch of the apprenticeship jobs platform in April 2019 to enhance the accessibility of apprenticeship job vacancies. The Minister and I agree with the Deputy and we have said publicly on many occasions that more has to be done to promote apprenticeships as a viable career path and a way of obtaining a real and meaningful job. The days of apprenticeships being the poor relation should be consigned to history forever.
I thank the Minister of State for that. We are all on the same page regarding apprenticeships and their encouragement. We know their value, particularly in rural communities where people may want to set up their own small businesses or be self-employed after gaining a qualification. I look forward to working with the Minister of State in the development of new apprenticeships in all kinds of new fields to meet the demand, particularly in respect of green energy given its potential.
The Deputy may be aware that the process of preparing the new apprenticeship action plan 2021-25 is under way. It will consider all aspects of the current system, together with the relevant international research, to ensure the apprenticeship system is best placed to respond to the long-term economic needs and will be resilient and flexible enough to meet the short-term challenges. Fifty-eight responses were received in the initial public consultation process. The regional skills fora have provided feedback from local research into SME requirements. An apprentice questionnaire is due to be issued in the near future.
