Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am sharing time with my colleague, Deputy O'Reilly.

I welcome this chance to debate apprenticeships, but the picture the Minister of State presents covers up what the reality is for too many apprentices who are struggling in the current system. In the course of the next eight to ten minutes, I will tell him about some of the feedback we have received from them.

The Government is in denial about the extent of the chaos in the apprenticeship system. Failure to get to grips with the backlog is having a detrimental impact on apprentices. Right now, 8,208 apprentices do not even have start dates for the classroom training they need to progress or complete their apprenticeships, almost half of all craft apprentices are in this backlog, and four-year apprenticeships are taking five to six years to complete. This means they cannot advance in their apprenticeships or become fully qualified tradespeople.

It is unacceptable to say this disruption is caused by higher levels of registration or that the additional capacity cannot be put in place overnight. In 2016, the apprenticeship action plan set a target of 9,000 annual registrations by 2020. We are still below that target and the system is in disarray, so blaming young people for not taking up apprenticeships does not wash.

Recently, we heard from 350 apprentices. One electrician apprentice stated, "Almost three years at it and still haven't gotten a call for SOLAS. 3 years of a supposed 4-year apprenticeship and will be at least another 3 until I finish". A metal fabrication apprentice from Limerick stated that he was "in my 4th year still waiting to go to phase 2 off-the-job training". An apprentice electrician Mayo stated:

The lack of support for me as an apprentice through the pandemic was shocking. I am going into my 6th year since registration, and I am only in phase 4. I got no increase in rates of pay even though all these delays are out of my hands. It was over 2 years from when I left phase 2 until I was called for phase 4. I feel disgusted about the system to be honest.

Those are not my words, but his. The frustration out there can not be overstated. Many apprentices told us that they felt a complete lack of respect and that no other students would be treated in this manner. An apprentice electrician from Louth stated:

Backlog is a disgrace, people signed up for 4-year apprenticeship and now it can be 6 years. How about you tell that to college students doing business or law and see the uproar.

Another apprentice told us, "At the current rate I will be in my 5th year but still capped at 3rd year rate as my employer will not pay me anymore until I'm qualified". A mechanical automatic and maintenance fitting apprentice from Tipperary stated:

Should be qualified two months ago. Still no sign of being called for training. Won't be done now till next year. I now can't ask for a qualified rate which means €5 an hour in the difference. Essentially €5000 down at least this year and that's only if I finish by the end of the year. There has been and will be no changes or improvements made to the system. Thanks to my delay, I have had to turn down jobs and can't ask for a pay rise as I am only an apprentice, it's a mess that I can't do anything about. Draining.

The effect of underinvestment and the backlog is that only 1,798 apprentices became fully qualified tradespeople in 2021. That is close to 600 fewer than in 2020 and represents the lowest number of newly qualified tradespeople since 2017. With my colleague, Deputy O'Reilly, and the rest of Sinn Féin, I have been calling for over a year for emergency action to address the backlog. Despite Government announcements about investing in the system, we know the Government spent less on apprenticeships as a whole in 2021 at €150 million than in either 2020 at €156 million or 2019 at €159 million despite the increasing numbers in the system.

People are being trapped on lower wages due to the backlog in the system. Anger and frustration about the backlog is matched by stress and desperation about the cost of living. Between the cost of tools, travel, college fees, childcare and rent, many apprentices are barely able to get by. One apprentice stated, "I cannot afford a car with current prices, insurance prices and fuel prices so I have to carry a 25 kilo tool-bag on public transport for 2 hours a day". When asked about financial pressure, an apprentice carpenter in Limerick stated:

[I have had to cut] Groceries and home heating, was frozen all winter while I was working 40 hours a week. I've been an apprentice since November 2020 still don't know about college, still behind on money, and the cost of everything is rising all around me”.

According to an apprentice plumber in Wexford, between "petrol & diesel, buying my own tools, standard of living has gone down massively since starting my apprenticeship, some weeks I can't even afford a can of deodorant". A motor mechanic in Kildare stated:

I feel as a young person and as an apprentice that my country does not want me to be happy living here. I want to qualify so I can emigrate and live somewhere where I can live happier. Ireland is a hard place to live as a young person and even harder as an apprentice. Especially first years and particularly with the rising fuel costs. Imagine working 2 days to pay for fuel to put in your car to work for 5 days.

A former carpenter apprentice in Donegal stated, "Young men and women are struggling, I, as well as many others, have had to drop from our apprenticeships because of the increased price of living". This is the real danger – apprentices being forced to drop out.

An apprentice hairdresser stated:

I live with my Mam and Dad but I pay rent to them. Heating has gone up significantly and once all my bills are paid, I'm lucky to have €50 left! If not for my mam and dad I would've had to stop already.

An apprentice from Mayo stated: "Only for family and several personal loans, I would not be able to manage, and I am truly disappointed in the whole system". These are the lucky ones, the ones who have support.

Apprenticeships have always provided a pathway into training and the workforce for young people who may not have had other options. The Minister of State should abandon the misguided plans to dismantle the craft apprenticeship model and instead focus on investing in the system. We need to fast-track apprenticeship workshops and the recruitment of tutors as a matter of urgency. Sinn Féin would allocate an additional €52 million to the apprenticeship system, with properly measured outcomes.

Apprentices need additional supports. A simple measure that the Government could take would be to scrap college fees for apprentices. This would put €1,000 back in their pockets and take the pressure off them. We also need to consider how to support apprentices in the first couple of years when they are on the lowest wages and have to purchase tools and get set up.

It is time to listen to apprentices. It is time to deliver for apprentices. It is time to treat those apprentices whom we say are so important with the respect they deserve. Our country's future prosperity depends on them.

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