Irish Examiner view: A new option for those entering the workforce

Government apprenticeship scheme offers an alternative path to employment

The Government is to launch a new scheme to encourage people to take up apprenticeships and to encourage employers to offer apprenticeships, especially to women. Picture: Marc O’Sullivan

It would take a brave man, or woman, to be emphatic about the future of work. Jobs once imagined secure and beyond the reach of change are now vulnerable — ask anyone in banking or the wider financial services sector. It is less difficult to offer plausible opinions on the place of work in society. It will, in whatever form it takes or at least it should take, a manifestation of opportunity. 

To that end, the Government is to launch this week a new scheme to encourage people to take up apprenticeships and to encourage employers to offer apprenticeships, especially to women. Employers will get  €3,000 payment for every apprentice employed and an extra sum, almost €3,000 if they take on a female apprentice. Bonus supports will be offered to those who employ, lone parents, people with disabilities or those living in direct provision.