Concerns over 'shockingly low' number of apprentices to graduate in Cork this year 

THERE are concerns that apprentices are dropping out of apprenticeships or even emigrating before finishing them. 

Sinn Féin TD for Cork North Central, Thomas Gould, has raised concern at the low numbers of apprentices in the final two phases of their training in Cork, after receiving figures that show there are just 83 Cork apprentices Cork in phase 7 and 151 in phase 6.

The figures break down the amount of people currently in the process of doing an apprenticeship, divided into subsections, and show that the first few phases have considerably higher numbers than the final phases.

Retaining apprentices

For electricians, there are 395 people in phase one of an apprenticeship, but just 16 in phase seven.

Mr Gould said: “What we can see from these figures is that there are huge issues in retaining apprentices.

“Across the board, apprentices are dropping out as they move from phase to phase. I am hearing on the ground that many of these are emigrating before they even finish their apprenticeship.

“Low pay and a high cost of living are making Ireland an unattractive place to complete an apprenticeship. From pipe-fitting to plumbing, apprentices are contacting me deeply frustrated at delays in progressing. Is it any wonder many are choosing to emigrate?

“The shockingly low figures of apprentices who will graduate in Cork this year spells bad news for the construction sector.

“In a city and county this size, to have only 14 plumbers and 16 electricians in their final phase is really worrying.

“We need these people in the construction sector especially. If the government continue to fail apprentices, the housing crisis will continue to worsen.”

Call for overhaul of programme

Mr Gould suggested “an overhaul of the apprenticeship programme” and targeted investment, saying that the struggling programmes are due to “years of under resourcing and underfunding”.

“I have seen firsthand the capacity issues in MTU. I have proposed that a state-of-the- art apprenticeship facility on the northside, properly resourced and funded, should be considered to reduce the backlog,” he said.

Mr Gould said Minister for Further and Higher Education Simon Harris has been overseeing apprenticeships for almost four years now, and not enough has been done in this time to address the retention crisis.

“We hear time after time from minister Darragh O’Brien about all the homes he has in the pipeline and how we’re turning a corner on housing.

“The only way to ramp up delivery is to ramp up the numbers working in construction, and that means properly investing in apprenticeships,” he said.