Joanna Tuffy (Dublin Mid West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Issues have been raised with me by people who contacted me on the topic. I revert to the fees issue which was raised by Senator Jim D'Arcy. One of the recommendations in the Department's summary is that apprentices continue to be paid both on and off the job, with no reduction in earnings during periods spent in education and training institutions. The payment of fees very much contradict this. Fees, in effect, represent a cut in the training allowance which is supposed to match what apprentices would receive on the job. Dr. Rigney might come in on that issue. What does the ICTU think about the charging of fees for apprentices?

A model of employer-driven demand for apprentices still seems to be the one recommended in the report. Should employers drive it? They may be conservative or vested interests may be an issue. What is being done to ensure that, ultimately, we will provide the number of apprentices in these areas which will be good for the economy and which will ensure we will have the people with the skills? Has there been any analysis as part of the reporting process of the number of apprentices we need to enter the trades? Has any figure been put on this?

Mr. Rowan referred to the need to do it properly. What things are coming on stream in terms of new sectors? What is going to come up and what is being planned in the short term?

On the gender issue, I note that when I was driving down Dawson Street the other day, I saw people working on the Luas line. There was a woman there, which was unusual. One takes note in the circumstances. One is seeing more and more of this and there is an extent to which it is happening naturally. I do not know whether she was a construction worker or an engineer, but the issue of the status of apprenticeships will have a knock-on effect in terms of there being more women entering them.