10,000 apprenticeships have been announced this week as part of an Action Plan on Apprenticeships, the move being hailed as a “positive development” by Fr Sean Healy SMA of Social Justice Ireland.
As part of the new plan, 10,000 apprenticeships will be created every year from 2025 onwards, with a target to hire 750 public sector apprentices annually by 2025, while employers who take on apprentices will earn a €3,000 yearly grant from 2022.
“We’re very positive about this initiative,” he told this paper, “but it has to be delivered on.”
“There have been false dawns on apprenticeships in Ireland previously,” he warned.
“The longer a person stays in education, the more likely they are to be in employment,” he said, continuing that if this initiative is to successfully address the problems it was made for, it must be properly resourced.
“It must also be seen as part of a whole-person, life-cycle approach to learning,” Fr Healy said.
