New Opportunities in Engineering, ICT, Healthcare
Today the Minister for Education and Skills, Richard Bruton T.D., and Minister of State John Halligan T.D., announced 26 new national apprenticeships have been approved for further development in areas ranging from Animation to Healthcare.
This Government is committed to more than doubling the number of new apprentices registered to 9,000 by 2020 and expanding further into new areas. Budget 2018 allocated €122m for apprenticeship training, an increase of almost 24% on the previous year. This will allow the Government to deliver 10 more apprenticeship programmes and over 6,000 more apprenticeship registrations in 2018.
The new apprenticeships announced today span a wide range of skills and sectors and will be developed in response to identified skill needs in the economy. A number of programmes in existing industry sectors such as construction, engineering, hospitality and ICT will be expanded. We will also developed apprenticeships for the first time in a number of new areas such as healthcare, equine science and agriculture.
All of the new apprenticeships are flexible, ranging in duration from two years to four years and will be offered at levels 5 to 10 on the National Framework of Qualifications. Following today’s announcement, the proposals will now move forward to the detailed development stage. It is estimated that the development process will take between 12 and 15 months.
Speaking at the launch today Minister Bruton said “One of the greatest casualties of the recession were apprenticeships. Registrations collapsed and fell by over 80% during the period. I am keen during my time as Minister to now, not only reverse this trend and rebuild traditional pathways but to significantly expand apprenticeships into new industries. I believe this is key to fulfilling our ambition to be the best in Europe by 2026.
“The programmes we are announcing today will provide excellent opportunities and choice for school leavers and other learners and allow employers shape the programmes that best suit their workforce needs. We will add a number of programmes in existing industry sectors such as construction, while also expanding into completely new areas such as healthcare.
“These new proposals will refresh the pipeline of proposals established through the first call in 2015 and complement the range of new apprenticeships being developed. We are committed to more than doubling the number of new apprentices registered to 9,000 by 2020 and expanding further into new areas. Budget 2018 allocated €122m to apprenticeship training, an increase of almost 24% to deliver on this goal”.
Minister Halligan said “Today’s announcement is an important step in meeting the targets set out in our Apprenticeship and Traineeship Plan, which seeks to double the number of annual apprenticeship and traineeship enrolments to 14,000 by 2020”.
Both Ministers thanked the Apprenticeship Council for all their ongoing work on the expansion of apprenticeships in Ireland and acknowledged the high level of commitment from all the proposers of the apprenticeship proposals who engaged in the process.
Pat O’Doherty, Chairman of the Apprenticeship Council and Chief Executive of ESB, said the Council was very impressed with the high quality of the proposals and the Council are now looking forward to working with the 26 successful proposers to develop these proposals into national apprenticeships.
Notes for the Editor
Apprenticeship
Apprenticeship is a programme of structured education and training which formally combines and alternates learning in the workplace with learning in an education and training institution. An apprenticeship prepares participants for a specific occupation and leads to a qualification on the National Framework of Qualifications. Since the 1970s it is estimated that over 105,000 apprentices have been trained in Ireland. In 2017 alone over 4,700 apprentices will have registered and started their training. There is a current population of over 12,000 apprentices with 4,900 participating employers (November 2017).
Action Plan for Education Commitments
Building on the Programme for Government, the Action Plan for Education contains a commitment to enrol 31,000 people on apprenticeship programmes in the period 2016-2020 which represents a near doubling on current activity. The achievement of these ambitious targets will require commitment from a number of stakeholders and strong employer demand.
Action Plan to expand Apprenticeship and Traineeship 2016 - 2020
The Plan now sets out a clear pathway for developing new apprenticeships, a development timeline of 12-15 months, clear annual targets for apprenticeship registrations as well as targets for the development of new programmes. The annual targets for apprenticeship registrations as set out in the Action Plan are below. The Plan also committed to a new call for proposals in 2017 to refresh the pipeline already established through the 2015 call.
New Apprenticeships
To date eleven new apprenticeship programmes have been developed following the Apprenticeship Council’s first call for proposals in 2015. These programmes are in Insurance Practice, Industrial Electrical Engineering, Polymer Processing Technology, Manufacturing Technology, Manufacturing Engineer, Accounting Technician, Commis Chef, two programmes in International Financial Services (Associate & Specialist) and two in ICT (Network Engineer and Software Developer).
Further new apprenticeships are to be submitted for validation to Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI) shortly and, subject to successful validation, are expected to get underway in 2018.
Second call for apprenticeships
| Title of proposed apprenticeship | Industry lead | Proposed coordinating provider |
1. | Applied Horticulture Level 6 Duration 2 years | Teagasc | Teagasc |
2. | Arboriculture Level 5 Duration 2 years | Caseys Tree Care Ltd, North West Tree Care, Kilcoyne Tree Care, Arborist Ireland | Galway Roscommon ETB |
3. | Associate Sales Professional Level 6 Duration 3 years | Sales Sense | Mayo Sligo & Leitrim ETB |
4. | CGI Technical Artist (Animation, Games, VFX) Level 9 Duration 2 years | Animation Skillnet, Screen Training Ireland | Dublin IT |
5. | Equipment Systems Engineer Level 9 Duration 2 years | SL Controls | University of Limerick |
6. | Farm Management Level 7 Duration 4 years | Teagasc | Teagasc |
7. | Farm Technician Level 6 Duration 2 years | Teagasc | Teagasc |
8. | Geo-Driller Level 6 Duration 3 years | Geological Survey Ireland | IT Carlow |
9. | ICT Associate Professional in Cybersecurity Level 6 Duration 2 years | FastTrack into Technology (FIT) | FIT |
| 10. | Lean Sigma Manager Level 9 Duration 2 years | Teleflex | University of Limerick |
11. | Logistics Associate Level 6 Duration 2 years | Freight Transport Association Ireland | Dublin IT |
12. | Principal Engineer- Professional Doctorate Level 10 Duration 4 years | SL Controls | University of Limerick |
13. | Professional Bar Manager Level 6 Duration 2 years | Vintners Association | Griffith College |
14. | Professional Hairdressing Level 6 Duration 3 years | Hairdressing Council of Ireland | Limerick & Clare ETB & Image Learning and Development Training Network Ltd |
15. | Professional Healthcare Assistant Level 6 Duration 2 years | Kiltipper Woods Care Centre | Griffith College |
16. | Quality Assurance Technician Level 7 Duration 3 years | Ibec Biopharma cluster | IT Tallaght |
17. | Quality Laboratory Technician Level 6 Duration 2 years | Ibec Biopharma cluster | IT Tallaght |
18. | Senior Quantity Surveyor Level 9 Duration 2 years | Society of Charted Surveyors Ireland | Limerick Institute of Technology |
19. | Recruitment Practitioner Level 6 Duration 2 years | National Recruitment Federation | National College of Ireland |
20. | Scaffolding Level 6 Duration 3 years | Construction Industry Federation | Laois & Offaly ETB |
21. | Software System Designer Level 9 Duration 2 years | Lero | University of Limerick |
22. | SportTurf Management Level 6 Duration 2 years | Teagasc | Teagasc |
23. | Stud Farm Management Level 7 Duration 2 years | Teagasc | Teagasc |
24. | Supply Chain Associate Level 7 Duration 3 years | IPICS The Supply Chain Management Institute | University of Limerick |
25. | Supply Chain Manager Level 9 Duration 2 years | IPICS The Supply Chain Management Institute | University of Limerick |
26. | Supply Chain Specialist Level 8 Duration 2 years | IPICS The Supply Chain Management Institute | University of Limerick |
Marketing campaign
A digital campaign to promote apprenticeship is now underway with a dedicated Twitter feed #Generation Apprenticeship, a new apprenticeship website www.apprenticeship.ie, an Apprenticeship Ireland Facebook page and a LinkedIn page. The campaign is designed to promote the values of the apprenticeship model to both employers and to prospective apprentices as a means of launching or developing their careers.