Dr. Peter Rigney:

We did not go into detail on the question of pre-apprenticeships but, given that the State invests a lot in Youthreach, there may be a way of specifically orientating Youthreach graduates towards an apprenticeship system. With the existing trades, that requires fluency in mathematics. It always strikes me as strange to see the statement at the bottom of apprenticeship advertisements that foundation mathematics is not acceptable. If employers will not accept foundation mathematics for an apprenticeship because it does not give people the required fluency, why are we providing it? I do not know the answer to that question. If it is worth nothing in the labour market, is the State mis-selling a product to students?