Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 13 July 2023
331. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Minister for Finance to outline the internships, apprenticeships and graduate schemes run by his Department and public bodies under the aegis of his Department. [35485/23]
View answerI wish to inform the Deputy that my Department does not currently run any internships, apprenticeships or graduate schemes.
We do recruit via the Administrative Officer graduate entry campaign conducted by the Public Appointments Service and the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform's Irish Government Economic and Evaluation Service (IGEES) graduate programme.
Information on internships, apprenticeships and graduate schemes run by a number of bodies under the aegis of my Department is set out below.
Central Bank of Ireland
Graduate programme
The intent of the graduate programme is to build a bench strength of high potential Bank Executive-level talent in regulation and central banking as well as difficult to acquire skills in niche areas such as IT & Data Analytics who have the potential for future growth and progression. The programme is 3 years in length which includes 2 x 18 month rotations. Graduates can apply to 3 streams: Actuarial, Data, Digital & Technology and Supervision, and Policy and Risk.
Internship programme
The internship programme offers students 9–12 month academic internships. The internships are offered in a number of business areas across the Bank to include, but not limited to, Financial Operations, Human Resources, Data Analysis, Policy and Risk, Economics, Consumer Protection, Credit Institutions Supervision, Insurance Supervision, Markets Supervision, Legal, Enforcement and Information Technology. Applicants must be in their second year or penultimate year of their course when applying to the programme.
Scholarship programme
The Scholarship Programme, in partnership with Griffith College, is designed to identify and nurture talent and to support motivated individuals to start a career while pursuing further education. Students can choose to study one of three courses part-time which are at level 8 on the NFQ; BA (Hons) in Accounting & Finance, BA(Hons) in Business Studies and BA(Hons) in Business Studies (HRM). Each course is 3 years in length and successful candidates will join the Bank on a 4 year fixed-term contract at Bank Officer level.
The Investor Compensation Company DAC is a body under my Department's remit, to which the Central Bank assigns staff.
Irish Fiscal Advisory Council
The Irish Fiscal Advisory Council runs an annual Summer Internship Programme. The internships are two remunerated temporary posts each lasting up to twelve weeks over the summer months and are open to those currently engaged in an undergraduate or postgraduate degree programme in Economics.
The Fiscal Council also offers support for a partial PhD Scholarship Programme for research in the area of fiscal policy. This pilot collaborative programme was introduced for the first time in 2023 and will entail both financial and supervisory support to one candidate.
National Treasury Management Agency
The NTMA Graduate Programme is designed to inspire, develop and challenge future leaders. The current programme is 24 months in duration and provides opportunities across the different business units of the NTMA. There are 18 graduates on the current NTMA Graduate Programme.
As part of its Inclusion and Diversity initiatives, the NTMA has participated in an Access Programme. In 2022, it accepted one intern through this programme for a period of four and a half months. In previous years, the NTMA has also facilitated paid placements for college students. It does not currently facilitate an apprenticeship programme.
The NTMA assigns staff to Home Building Finance Ireland, the National Asset Management Agency and the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland.
Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General
The Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (OCAG) currently has internship arrangements with two Universities. These students are required to do work placements as part of their college courses. The placement is usually for a duration of 9-12 months. As at 30th June 2023, the OCAG employed 8 students.
The OCAG currently has an arrangement with the Accounting Technicians of Ireland for apprentices. The Accounting Technician Apprenticeship Programme is a two-year, work-based learning education training programme which is delivered by Accounting Technicians Ireland in partnership with local colleges and registered employers. The training generally consists of one day off-the-job training and education in a local college and four days on-the-job training in the relevant workplace. As at 30th June 2023, the Office employed 2 apprentices.
OCAG examines its capacity and options annually to maximise the potential opportunities to provide work experience and internships. In terms of graduate schemes, it takes on a cohort of Trainee Auditors at least once a year. The number of vacancies varies annually. As at June 30th , the Office has 50 part-qualified trainee auditors. This is open to anyone that wants to pursue an accountancy qualification but the advert is aimed at graduates who want to pursue a course of professional studies leading to a qualification with one of the recognised accountancy bodies.
Office of the Revenue Commissioners
Revenue is involved in the apprenticeship planning group being hosted by Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science which is based on the commitment in the ‘Action Plan for Apprenticeship 2021-2025’ to grow the number of apprenticeship registrations across the public service, including local authorities, to reach 750 annual registrations by 2025. This represents in excess of a seven-fold increase on 2020 registrations and will support a long-term goal of 7% of the apprentice population being employed by public service employers. As part of this, Revenue has received approval from the National Apprenticeship Office (NAO) and SOLAS to employ apprentices on designated apprenticeship programmes.
Revenue is currently engaged in the following programmes:
Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Apprenticeships 2023-2025
Revenue recently recruited 8 apprentices under the 2023 Civil Service ICT Apprenticeship Programme that is being run in conjunction with Fastrack into Information Technology (FIT), the national coordinating provider for ICT Apprenticeships. The apprentices are employed at EO level, on a full-time basis for the 2-year programme. Those who successfully achieve all programme elements will attain a Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI) Advanced Certificate Award placed at Level 6 on the National Framework of Qualifications (NFQ). The apprentices will attain one of the following qualifications:
• Advanced Certificate in Software Development (Computer Programming)
• Advanced Certificate in Network Engineering (Computer Networking)
• Advanced Certificate in Cybersecurity.
Willing Able Mentoring Programme (WAM) Work Experience Placement 2022 & 2023
WAM is a work placement programme which aims to promote access to the labour market for graduates with disabilities and build the capacity of employers to integrate disability into the mainstream workplace. Revenue employed 5 WAM candidates during 2022 and will participate in the 2023 programme.
Last year was the first year of this programme’s innovative and inclusive route to permanency for candidates on this programme. 17 of the 22 candidates across the Civil Service that applied for a permanent role, on completion of a successful work placement, were assigned to full time posts in the Civil Service including three candidates that were assigned to Revenue in a permanent capacity.
Oireachtas Work Learning (OWL) Work Experience Placement 2023
The OWL Trainee Programme was established in the Houses of the Oireachtas Service in 2018 as a partnership programme with KARE, WALK and the Houses of the Oireachtas. It is also supported by the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform (DPENDPDR) and the Public Appointments Service. The training programme for 10 adults with an intellectual disability is hosted by the Houses of the Oireachtas Service and run by KARE and WALK co-ordinators. The training element is delivered by City of Dublin Education and Training Board. The programme takes place between September and June each year with each trainee completing three work experience placements (10-12 weeks each) along with the education programme delivered by City of Dublin Education and Training Board. Some of the QQI Level 3 modules completed by trainees include Career Preparation and Health and Safety in the Workplace. Revenue has three expressions of Interest in the OWL programme in 2023.
Internships 2023
Revenue has operated an Internship Programme for a number of years. During this time, it has worked with a variety of colleges throughout Ireland and built-up excellent relationships with them.
In 2023, Revenue sought and received DPENDPDR sanction (which is a yearly request) to appoint up to 23 interns for periods of 6-9 months in the following specialist areas:
• ICT – Internship roles across units within our large ICT & Logistics (ICT&L) division include supporting end users in our organisation to maximise their use of ICT and digital services, as well as helping to manage our ICT services across a range of leading technologies and solutions, including ICT Service Desk operations. 10 interns to date have been allocated to the 2023 ICT&L internship programme.
• Larger Corporates Division – Interns will complete a deep analysis and a review of the corporate group structures in place as well as a separate division-wide project in data analysis. Two interns to date have been allocated to the 2023 LCD internship programme.
• Economic Research – The interns will be involved directly in contributing to several projects or research papers from the Unit’s business plan for 2023. These may include working on topics such as Income Tax reform, Excise elasticity analysis, forecasting of tax receipts, international taxation issues and preparing briefings on the economic outlook for Revenue senior management.
• Websites Operations Unit –The intern will gain practical experience of working on a large and complex website, with an opportunity to contribute to the achievement of high-level goals including performance improvement using analytics, website review and web accessibility.
• Accountant Generals Branch – The intern will be part of a project team carrying out functions including but not limited to, updating an overarching description of receipting and repayments systems, assessing further opportunities for integration, highlighting key risks and controls and assurance mapping and liaising with business owners. Five interns to date have been allocated to the 2023 Accountant General & Strategic Planning Division (AG&SPD) internship programme.
