Significant milestone as number of women apprentices surpasses 1,000 – Minister Harris

Minister for Further and Higher Education Simon Harris TD has today marked an important milestone as the number of women apprentices surpasses 1,000.

This was confirmed by SOLAS as Zoe Fitzgerald started an two-year, Accounting Technician Apprenticeship with Cork County Council.

Speaking today Minister Harris said: “Five years ago, there were as few as 26 female apprentices. Today, we are marking 1,000 female apprentices.

“This is an important milestone for celebration. There is still much to be done and one of my key goals as Minister is to improve the number of people in apprenticeship, increase diversity and improve the gender balance.”

The Programme for Government commits to increasing the number of apprenticeships to 10,000 every year and Minister Harris is currently finalising the Action Plan for Apprentices.

The number of apprenticeship programmes has expanded greatly in recent years with almost 60 different types of apprenticeship now available across a range of sectors including Electrical, Finance, ICT, BioPharma, Recruitment and Property Services.

In July 2020, Minister Harris launched a €3,000 financial incentive for employers to take on apprentices which is available to all employers who take on apprentices on all national apprenticeship programmes. 1,358 employers have availed of the Scheme.