Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 27 March 2025
45. Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the plans in place to incentivise apprenticeship schemes, especially for post-Secondary school students who want to pursue a trade or grow skills rather than entering the route of 3rd level education. [6742/25]
View answerMy Department's Action Plan for Apprenticeship 2021-2025 aims to make apprenticeship visible and recognised by learners, employers, family and career guidance professionals by promoting and incentivising uptake on apprenticeship programmes as an attractive route to qualifications and a career.
Targeted financial supports are offered to apprentices through the Access to Apprenticeship Initiative which supports socio-economically disadvantaged young people into an apprenticeship scheme and the Traveller Apprenticeship Incentivisation Programme.
A grant of €2,000 per year per apprentice is available to employers of apprentices on one of the 50+ consortia led apprenticeships.
This Department also raises the profile and promotes the recognition of skills based careers and apprenticeships directly to learners and schools through competitions such as the annual Generation Apprenticeship Competition for Second Level and WorldSkills.
My department developed and launched the Careers in Construction Action Plan in August 2023. Many of the campaign activities specifically focused on promoting construction apprenticeships:
• The National Apprenticeship Office’s “Facts, Faces, Futures" campaign uses female role models to highlight all the positive aspects of apprenticeship and the full range of opportunities available.
• My department's Building Heroes social media campaign took a peer-to-peer approach to dispel the myths surrounding careers in construction including for women and girls. The campaign reached more than 3.5 million people in 2024.
At the end of February 2025 there were 2,603 female apprentices, approximately 10% of the overall apprentice population. This has doubled since 2021, when there were just over 1,300 female apprentices.
A bursary of €2,666 per apprentice is available to businesses who employ apprentices from the minority gender on programmes which have greater than 80% representation of either women or men.
