Local Minister Denis Naughten has confirmed that €20m in additional funding is to be made available for apprenticeships and traineeships.
“This funding will ensure that 13 new apprenticeship schemes are delivered by the end of this year with another 120 apprenticeships and traineeship schemes to come on stream by 2020,” stated Minister Naughten.
The Government’s Plan aims to deliver 50,000 apprenticeship and traineeship registrations by 2020. There are currently 27 apprenticeships in Ireland, in areas such as construction, engineering and the motor sector while other countries have a much broader tradition of apprenticeship such as Germany where over 300 apprenticeships are available across a wide range of sectors.
“This will offer an exciting career path for many young people who will get the chance to learn skills and get hands on experience while acquiring applied, technical skills within a variety of sectors,” stated Minister Naughten. “These skills are focused on ensuring that after they qualify young people can walk into jobs in areas where there are, and will continue to be, job vacancies.
“In recent years it has become difficult to secure an apprenticeship and it is vital that we establish new apprenticeships and traineeships in areas where they may not traditionally have existed.”
The Insurance Practitioner Apprenticeship, the first of the new programmes developed through the Apprenticeship Council’s first call for proposals, launched in September 2016 and an Industrial Engineer Apprenticeship commenced in November 2016. A further 13 new apprenticeships are due to launch later this year in various sectors including medical devices, polymer processing and financial services.