As the Deputy is aware, as part of the annual 2019 Spending Review process, DPER conducted a review of participation and costs associated with Apprenticeships. The main aim of the Spending Review process, which is currently in its 2020-2022 cycle, is to continue to subject key policies and expenditure programmes across Government to critical assessment in support of the service-wide agenda of evidence-informed policy making. As per the previous cycles of the review process, programmes and areas to be assessed are selected by each Department on an annual basis.
As part of this year’s Spending Review, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, in collaboration with the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, are working on a paper on demographic projections in Higher Education. While not being examined this year as part of the Spending Review process, an update of the 2019 paper on Apprenticeship participation and costs may be considered as a potential topic for analysis in the future.