A national accountancy apprenticeship programme is to create 160 jobs it has been announced today.
The Accounting Technician Apprenticeship will allow applicants to earn while they learn.
Apprentices will be locally-placed and will earn at least €19,000 a year as part of the work-based learning programme.
It will be based in Dublin, Cork, Wicklow, Waterford, Limerick, Galway and Monaghan.
Applications, which open this week, are open to Leaving Cert students and mature learners.
The apprenticeship offers an alternative to those who find that a full-time college programme doesn't suit them.
Among those to have embraced the new programme are Grant Thornton, high street practices and organisations in industry and the public sector.
The two-year programme will see the successful applicants work in the office for four days each week and study in a local college one day per week.
The practical nature of the programme, the salary and the fully-funded fees make the Accounting Technician Apprenticeship particularly appealing to School Leavers who prefer learning by experience to full-time college education, according to Gillian Doherty, Chief Operations Officer at Accounting Technicians Ireland.
“When students complete the apprenticeship programme, they will have a strong, in-demand accountancy QQI Level 6 award, two years of solid work experience and the opportunity, if they wish, to progress to further study in accountancy, business or finance,” said Ms Doherty.
Full details on the apprenticeships can be found here.