Two agricultural apprenticeship programmes will launch in Ireland next year, Minister Simon Harris has confirmed this week.
The Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science released details of up to 10 new apprenticeship programmes in 2023.
The latest raft of apprenticeships cover tech, engineering, agriculture, horticulture, hospitality and media.
These are an addition to the further 11, which are currently in development, and the 66 programmes already available nationwide.
New apprenticeships due for launch in 2023 –
- Farm Manager NFQ Level 7 – Q3 2023;
- Advanced Quantity Surveyor NFQ Level 9 – Q3 2023;
- Farm Technician NFQ Level 6 – Q3 2023;
- Executive Chef NFQ Level 9 – Q4 2023;
- Horticulture NFQ Level 6 – Q3 2023;
- Precision Machinist & Quality Control NFQ Level 6 – Q3 2023;
- Sports Turf Management NFQ Level 6 – Q2 2023;
- Civil Engineering NFQ Level 6 – Q3 2023
- Civil Engineering NFQ Level 7 (levels 8 and 9 progs deleted as are 2024 delivery) – Q3 2023
- Digital Marketing & Media NFQ Level 6 added – Q4 2023.
The above dates are when the apprenticeship programme is due to open (live on systems) to allow for the approval of employers to recruit apprentices and apprentice registrations.
This can happen several weeks prior to the actual programme start date to allow sufficient time for the aforementioned to take place, the minister outlined.
Apprentices
The Action Plan for Apprenticeship 2021-2025 contained ambitious targets to reform the system.
This includes a target to reach 10,000 new registrations every year by 2025 and new financial supports for employers.
Apprenticeship registrations in 2021 were the highest they have been since 2007, with 8,607 apprentices employed on 62 programmes, the minister outlined.
Separately, it is anticipated that the confirmed end-of-year population for 2022 will be more than 26,000 apprentices.
This is an increase of some 45% over the apprenticeship population in 2019 (17,829).
