John Halligan (Waterford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Yes. There is a combination of apprenticeships. The programme for Government, as the Deputy knows, includes a commitment to increase the cumulative number of apprenticeships to 31,000. There are a number of new apprenticeships.

What we do is we regularly call to businesses, and it would not be unusual for a particular business group to ask to meet either the Minister for Education and Skills or myself. We both believe apprenticeships are needed within the industry. That applies to the basic apprenticeships, for example, plasterers or bricklayers, right up to the new apprenticeships we recently launched with insurance brokers and companies. We are getting calls from businesses right across the board. We are able to fill the apprenticeships based on the quota and it looks very positive for the next number of years.