Apprentices being ‘unfairly impacted’ by Covid: Eastwood

Mr Eastwood said: “My office has been contacted by several young people who had been scheduled to complete their apprenticeships last May and, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, this completion date has been pushed back time and time again.

“Many are now in a situation where they have remained as an apprentice for an additional year and will have been paid as an apprentice during this time. These are well-trained people with the skills needed to rebuild our economy when we emerge from this current crisis.”

The Foyle MP says it is unfair that those affected continue to be paid as apprentices when, through no fault of their own, they have been unable to complete their training formally.

“I have contacted the Minister for the Economy, Diane Dodds, to find out more information on the number of people who have been unable to complete apprenticeships in Derry and the North and have also pressed the minister for a timeline for completion of their courses.

It is only fair that the Department for the Economy design a scheme to provide financial redress to apprentices and backdated to when they were originally expected to finish.

“We cannot allow some of the most skilled in our society to be left behind further.”