Mr. Peter Baldwin:

I thank the Chairman. First, on Deputy Kitt's question regarding young people moving into apprenticeships after the junior certificate, we still have the objective that young people would complete their leaving certificate. The apprenticeship review group endorsed that as a legitimate objective and agreed that the time to go into an apprenticeship should be after the leaving certificate. There are issues around the curriculum at both junior and senior cycle which might better address the different skill sets of individuals in terms of preparation for apprenticeship, but we would still have the overall objective that people would complete it. People can, however, still go into apprenticeships and education and training boards, ETBs, do have the potential to offer, for example, pre-apprenticeship courses or apprenticeship sampling courses.

In respect of co-operation between schools, which was raised by Deputy Brendan Smith, there are difficulties around different curricula and so on, and in terms of school transport, there are issues around different starting times and so on. The most fruitful area for co-operation is probably professional collaboration, because ultimately what happens in the classroom dictates the quality of the outcomes for children and work is being done on a North-South basis in terms of professional collaboration around issues of disadvantage.

On planning for schools, we now have quite a sophisticated planning apparatus in our planning and building unit in Tullamore. There is a GIS system that looks at all the demographic data throughout the country. There is also a working arrangement with county managers in terms of future planning, so that should assist, but I do not doubt that conflicts arise locally on occasion. It is hoped this apparatus will minimise the occurrence of such conflicts.

Deputy Crowe rightly identified the problems we had before with apprenticeships being demand-led. This meant that in the aftermath of the construction boom, we ended up with many apprentices who had to be assisted in seeing out their apprenticeships. In fairness to FÁS, while there were many well-documented issues with it, it did put a huge range of measures in place to facilitate apprentices seeing out their apprenticeship and qualifying.

We are very conscious of it as we go forward into the new apprenticeships. With a demand-led scheme, there is no way of smoothing it out. With the new apprentices, we will be starting with approved numbers rather than taking a demand-led approach. It must be employer-led, given that an apprenticeship is a contract of employment and an employer must step up to the plate.

The areas are accountancy, butchery, technical, travel, telecommunications, network engineering, information technology, financial services, hospitality, manufacturing and engineering. New apprenticeships have been identified in the first 25. There was a call for proposals and a group of 25 were identified as those that would be amenable to quicker development than the others which needed more development. The 25 are in a range of different areas and the idea is that funding will be given to them to develop. There is an amount of work to be done to develop the curricula and the on-the-job part, and money will be given to develop it. It is hoped that recruitment in those will occur in 2016. They are different areas and will begin with specified numbers.

One of the key issues around the new apprenticeships is sustainability. We have hammered at this from the beginning. If we are to persuade the young people of Ireland, and their mothers and fathers, that our new apprenticeships are a valid way to go, it must be a sustainable career. The commitment by the employers and industry sectors will be crucial. This is one of the key elements. We hope the initial ones would be sustainable within the numbers that are approved.

Mr. Maskey asked about dealing with educational attainment and high unemployment. In terms of the North-South issue, the co-operation around disadvantage might best facilitate attention to disadvantage on both sides of the Border. Senator White raised the issue of youth unemployment. During the recession there was not a family in Ireland that was not touched by unemployment and the effect long-term absence from education, training or employment can have on a young person. The first point of contact for young people is the Department of Social Protection's Intreo service. The Youth Guarantee promotes engagement with young people who have been out of the workforce, particularly those with a low probability of exit from unemployment. Where we work with them, there is a protocol between the education and training boards, ETBs, and the Intreo service to facilitate referral of all unemployed people, particularly the long-term or young unemployed, to appropriate education and training provision.