Government is committed to maximising the number of apprentices who start and complete apprenticeship programmes, and an objective of the Action Plan is to have apprenticeship be recognised and valued by employers across all sectors of the economy.
While wages are a key factor for those considering apprenticeships, neither SOLAS nor my department are involved in the setting of wages. The wages of around three quarters of the overall apprentice population are guided by long-standing industrial relations mechanisms. For the remainder, wages are agreed between the employer and the apprentice on a case by case basis.
In craft programmes the apprentice receives a training allowance provided by the state during their off-the-job training phases. This ensures the apprentice continues to have an income while in full-time training. Apprentices on consortia-led schemes are paid by their employer throughout the apprenticeship. To support employers with training costs, a €2,000 consortia-led employer grant was launched in 2022. Since the introduction of the consortia-led employer grant employer grant, yearly registrations on consortia-led apprenticeships have risen from 1,652 in 2021 to 2,239 in 2024.
Targeted financial supports are also available to employers to encourage the employment of underrepresented groups. Apprentices may also avail of meal and travel, or accommodation, supplementary allowances.
To date in the lifetime of the current Action Plan for Apprenticeships, annual registrations in apprenticeships have risen by 75%, from 5,326 by the end of 2020 to 9,352 in 2024.
In a recent survey of apprentices undertaken by the National Apprenticeship Office 86% of all respondents indicated that they would recommend an apprenticeship to family and friends.
Maintaining apprenticeship as an attractive option for both employers and learners is essential to achieving the Government’s goal of 12,500 new apprentice registrations annually by 2030. This will be a central focus of the next Action Plan.
