John Dolan: Apprentice scheme a success story... let’s keep it that way

When you’re a teenager who has just left school and are contemplating your next move, four years can seem like a lifetime.

But that is the buy-in required for people who want to take up an apprenticeship in this country.

It is a big step that involves delayed gratification - something for which the younger generation are not normally renowned!

We are basically telling them: Take a hefty pay cut and earn a meagre wage for four whole years - less than colleagues your own age doing similar work - while you learn on-the-job and spend blocks of time in college (something you already decided against doing when you left school!).

However, when that time is up, you will be fully qualified in a skill or craft and be able to earn very good money both in Ireland and abroad.

Basically, the world will be your oyster... four years down the line, so hang in there.

I’m a big fan of apprenticeships, not being from a particularly academic background. My dad did a six-year one in the building trade, and my grandad did a seven-year apprenticeship as a printer.

It’s fair to say they went out of fashion in recent decades, as the message was drummed into young people that a degree needed to be obtained at all costs, often even before a route into employment had been planned.

So effective has that message been that 63% of Irish people aged 25-34 have a third-level degree or equivalent, the highest rate in the EU for this age group.

This is, of course, a good thing. An educated workforce is the key to a happy and prosperous nation, and attracts investment and jobs into the country.

However, there has long been a sense that bright young things who lack academic qualities such as good memory and an ability to concentrate for long spells have been falling through the cracks.

Often, these people can feel pressurised into going to college or university, drift through student life, and come out the other end with a degree in a subject they care little about.

What a waste of everyone’s time (and money).

It was Simon Harris who spearheaded a change in this thinking, when he was appointed Minister for Further and Higher Education in 2020. To his credit, as soon as the pandemic was over, he launched a vast expansion of the apprenticeship system.

Mr Harris introduced new programmes across various sectors and oversaw a rapid growth in the number of registered apprentices.

The government set a goal of 10,000 new registrations per year by 2025. In a rare success story for the Coalition, it is on target to get close to this laudable aim, with a record 9,000 registrations in 2024.

There are currently 30,000 apprentices nationwide, enrolled in 74 programmes.

The system isn’t just tailored to give young people a valid alternative to college, but is specifically aimed at tackling the housing crisis, given that a large number of apprenticeships are geared at jobs in the construction sector.

All of this is excellent news, and my eldest son is one of the thousands of people who have taken advantage of this programme.

However, there have been grounds for concern of late: reports that the second stage of the apprenticeship schemes - when candidates spend a block of time at college - were being deferred.

There was talk too of budget issues for the operator of these schemes, state agency SOLAS.

In a segment on apprentices on RTÉ’s Liveline show earlier this month, one caller estimated that four-year programmes were taking on average five-and-a-half years, with some taking six.

Needless to say, this would be taking the concept of delayed gratification too far for some young people, and there have been reports of candidates turning their backs on their apprenticeships and opting to emigrate instead.

In defence of SOLAS and the government, it could be argued that it has become the victim of its own success, with systems unable to keep up with the increased intake of apprentices - there was a 35% rise in numbers between 2019 and 2024.

However, such a defence can only stretch so far. The last thing we need is for word to get around among young people’s social media feeds that these schemes are taking far longer than advertised, discouraging others from taking them up.

The knock-on effect on the housing construction industry alone could be catastrophic.

The thought of hundreds of young people turning their backs on a bright future, including my own son, is depressing.

However, this week saw some good news on this front - the type of clarity, assurance, and security that apprentices have been looking for.

A statement from the National Apprenticeship Office to the Connect trade union admitted that “a funding pressure” had been identified in its budget but it had now been resolved.

Detailed scheduling and delivery planning for all craft apprenticeship phases for the remainder of the year would now commence “and apprentices and their employers can expect correspondence from this week on”.

Connect acknowledged in a statement that there had been confusion and misinformation around the schemes on social media in recent times, but hoped this statement would clear that up.

I fervently hope so too.

The apprenticeship scheme is a flagship project for this government, and the last thing we need is another reminder of how often the state misses targets and falls behind on budgets and deadlines.

We need young people to have faith in the system.

When the issue of delays in the schemes first came to light in April last year, raised by Galway Sinn Féin TD Mairéad Farrell, it was revealed that the Cork Education and Training Boards were reporting among the longest waiting lists, with 409 people waiting more than half a year for the off-site phase two section of their apprenticeship to commence.

The Department of Further Education said a wait of 3-6 months is considered “normal”.

The government simply cannot allow any delay to the four-year apprenticeship to be normalised. It’s a long enough chunk of a young person’s life as it is.

This vital element of the Coalition’s education strategy - and a crucial cog in the machine that will hopefully build enough houses for us all to live in - must be firing on all cylinders in order for our youth to sign up to it.