Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Absolutely. There is no doubt it is a fantastic career. It is a challenging environment, however. There are some skills, particularly in stonemasonry, in the private and public sector. Only a handful of people in this country are able to work on the Corinthian and Ionic capitals on top of columns in Georgian buildings. Even transferring that knowledge ó ghlúin go glúin is a difficulty because as people retire, the number of master craftspeople who are available, whether they are plasterers or painters, or people who have those skill sets, is diminishing. Everybody wants their children to go to university when they might be far better off, in many cases, had they followed an apprenticeship route. There is a big drive around apprenticeships. Some of our people have gone on to lead the organisation having entered it as apprentices. We are now encouraging apprenticeships. We hope, under the Public Service Apprenticeship Plan for 2021-25, to have 750 apprentices by 2025. That includes the local authorities. Even in the area where I live, Mungret, we have apprentice machine drivers working on rivers beside master craftspeople and learning from them on the job. It is something that is extremely valuable.