Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The apprenticeship programme should deliver an effective way to provide for the education and qualification needs of many of our young people. For too long the focus has been on degree level performance and that is seen as the only way to go in education. Currently in Donegal, outside of Letterkenny, practically the only way young people will be able to secure employment is through having a skill that would be gained by an apprenticeship rather than a third level qualification. That may be about to change, but it will not change for a while. There are needs for those apprenticeships and that must be recognised.

At present, if a person gets a degree qualification, there are very few opportunities for him or her to live and work in Donegal. In fact, if teaching were taken out of the equation, there would be very few opportunities anywhere. The recent launch of the Atlantic Technological University might begin to change that situation, and I sincerely hope it does. However, even if it does, there will still be a need for the skill sets that apprenticeships supply. Apprenticeships are becoming more important in an increasing number of employment positions, so it might mean the need to go away to secure an education and a viable employment option might not be as important. For that to work, employers need to see the value in offering apprenticeships as well. That is vital. It appears the move to a situation where the employer pays the salary of the apprentices during the education block release element is a barrier to securing more apprenticeships. We may have to consider returning to the system where SOLAS pays for the education element of the apprenticeship to see an expansion in the offerings.

Anecdotally, there appears to be a difficulty with employers retaining apprentices in sectors where there is a boom time operator. For example, some employers are experiencing difficulty competing with wind farm developers who poach recently qualified apprentices with big wage offerings. I do not know what can be done to prevent that, but it leaves a sour taste in the mouths of employers. Perhaps in every industry there are boom time employers whose business is on the up and they can pay rates no one else can match. I am not sure what the situation is in that regard. I wonder, too, whether some employers use apprentices as easy income and whether the apprentices have difficulty securing good pay and conditions on the completion of an apprenticeship. It would be interesting to see statistics on the retention in employment of apprentices and an explanation of why they move as well. Those statistics might already be available but I have not been able to find them. If they are available, I would like to see them because that issue is important.

There is a problem in Ireland with regard to employers recognising the value of their employees to a business. Many businesses would be more successful if they valued their employees and recognised the value they add to the offering. Perhaps that is one form of apprenticeship that should be developed as well - the business owner or personnel manager recognising the importance of the workforce. That would go a long way to a situation where everyone's contribution could be valued.

SOLAS highlighted in a recent Oireachtas committee report the challenge of securing places for apprentices with employers. I have to say that has been my experience as well, more so than workers not staying with employers. Perhaps the change to the payment system I mentioned earlier is a factor in this. To grow the number of apprentices, it may be necessary to return to the system where the State pays for the education element of an apprenticeship. When we realise a successful business depends on good management and good staff working together for the benefit of everyone, then we might see a successful apprenticeship programme.

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