Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the delegates for their presentations. Reference was made to assessing the need for courses. In many cases, it is difficult to assess what is required when we do not know which companies will take on apprentices. I was a victim of this. In the past few years skills shortages have emerged. When one is prepared to sponsor someone and offer him or her an apprenticeship, one is stopped because he or she does not have a piece of paper. People aged between 45 and 55 years such as me went out into the world and learned from those who had gone before them. We did not have a piece of paper in our hand. I gave a document to the Minister of State at the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Damien English. Around Ireland there are people aged between 55 and 60 years who are willing to hand on the torch and it would not cost the Government money. They have sons and daughters with different skills sets. They are willing to do this, but because of the need to have a little piece of paper, they are forbidden from doing so.

AnCO was one of the greatest organisations ever. Anybody who came out of it was trained to a standard. I have worked on many construction sites and during the boom, if one acted and looked like a driver, one was a driver, but I guarantee that this cannot continue. The standard being set for apprenticeships is not good enough. A little piece of paper that tells someone he or she can go down a fall and dig a trench 20 yards long does not make him or her a digger driver. As Senator Hildegarde Naughton said, a long time ago people went to Mervue or the boatyards in Galway to take welding courses and so on and they learned a trade. The six week course now provided does not make a heavy welder; the hours and resources have to be put in. I question the pieces of paper going around. We have to change the mindset behind the way we do everything.

We talk about looking forward. A year ago we were looking forward to the roll-out of broadband services, with wires to be laid and so on. However, we are importing 260 people every six months to do this, while, at the same time, only 16 people are being trained in a college to do this work. I hope common sense will prevail because I am passionate about apprenticeships. I have identified the urgent need for between 5,000 and 6,000 apprentices. I have identified where 90% of the crane drivers aged between 65 and 70 years are and the different skills sets people in this age cohort possess. I believe in technology and moving forward, but if apprenticeships are not served on the ground, one will not have the building in which to put the computer or the road leading to the building. A root and branch analysis of the system is needed and courses have to be lengthened. There is a shimozzle over trainers and safety courses.

This comes from employers. It costs a person €300 to take a safety training course and the next course also costs €300. We need a multitasker to deliver courses at a price people can afford to drive forward all of the different skills sets.