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

When the late Tomás Mac Giolla was a TD, he was very much supportive of the Dublin Institute of Technology and the whole VEC sector, including apprenticeships. He used to propose the idea that apprentices should be able to do stuff from the arts as well.

Mr. Boland mentioned combining arts, sciences and humanities. We need to consider this for apprentices also. As a public representative, I come across people who have done an apprenticeship but whose educational qualifications other than that are not high. These people are in a dead end and cannot get into other fields of work. This sort of combination of training might make it easier for them. It is necessary, particularly if industry dies out because of the economy. If they had this, they could then move into other areas. Last week, we were told that men over 35 are finding it hard to get work and that people of that age on the live register find it hardest of all. They lack confidence in their ability to read, write and deal with other aspects of the education system. If more combined education was included in apprenticeship training, it might help them.