Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 19 October 2023
88. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if consideration can be given to allowing an apprentice butcher who lives in the South and who has been offered an apprenticeship place at a suitable facility in the North (details supplied) to be accepted onto the SOLAS apprenticeship course; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45367/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraI am dealing with a young man who works in Dundalk and wants to do an apprenticeship through SOLAS. He has a workplace in Crossmaglen in County Armagh that is happy to do this but there is an issue in delivering it. I have spoken to the Taoiseach and the Minister, Deputy Harris, about this, and the matter is with the Minister of State, Deputy Niall Collins, at the minute. There is a general view that we need to deliver cross-Border student mobility, so I am hoping for some good news.
I am glad to inform the Deputy that procedures have been put in place by SOLAS allowing for apprentices resident in the Republic to be employed outside the State, including in the North. The Department has been advised by SOLAS that the conditions are that the relevant employer is approved and registered to train apprentices and complies with specific taxation and company registration requirements, along with the appointment of a company representative to have overall responsibility for training the apprentices. I will provide full details separately to the Deputy of the conditions that must be met under these procedures. It is a matter for the employer of the person to whom the question relates to ascertain whether they meet these requirements, which would allow the apprenticeship to proceed in these circumstances.
We already have an all-Ireland apprenticeship programme, the accounting technician apprenticeship, with a second programme for accounting technologists in development. These are at levels 6 and 8, respectively, on the national framework of qualifications. This was a key commitment under the action plan for apprenticeship that we are glad to be able to deliver in partnership with the programme’s consortium.
I am almost shocked with that positive answer, which is the one I had hoped for. Unfortunately, it is not the information the student in question, his mother or I had received previously when dealing with SOLAS so there may be a need for communication. If we ensure the employer meets the criteria and the correct people are communicating with SOLAS, we can get this sorted and bring the issue to an end. I ask for a promise from the Minister of State that we will ensure the right people talk to each other and deliver a solution so that this young fellow can get his apprenticeship and his mother is no longer giving out to me.
As I said, we will endeavour to send the Deputy the information or criteria post-haste after this session.
The Minister will not be shocked when I address my next contribution to him. I hope he is willing to accept it. I welcome all that has been said on mobility, whether we are talking about cross-Border, hard-to-reach communities or disability. I will return to the issue of personal assistants. I see the Minister has provided additional moneys to deal with disability in further education. People are under severe pressure and becoming apprehensive. There are other issues, however, including a long-term issue related to contracts, issues with monthly rather than weekly payments and an issue with switching to jobseeker's payments because people do not have full-time contracts.
I acknowledge that Deputy Ó Murchú raises this issue with me on a regular basis and we have had good meetings and engagement on it, including with a group of personal assistants we met, who were largely, though not exclusively, from the Louth and Meath Education and Training Board. I am pleased that we received an extra €2 million in funding for students with disabilities in the budget. This will allow us to do more to support students with disabilities. That core part of supporting students with disabilities is the people who work with them. I do not want to get ahead of myself but in answer to a parliamentary question from the Deputy last night, I said I was looking to see if, as part of that, we can better support our personal assistants. A proper discussion on the role of personal assistants is key. Are there interim steps we can take? I am open to doing that and I look forward to having a follow-up meeting with the Deputy shortly.
