Mr. William Beausang:

That is part of setting a target. Here we are in the context of the Revised Estimates, setting a particular equality objective agenda in an important area of further education and training. In the policy area, a framework will have to be adjusted when that target is achieved. That is the essence of accountability. They have committed to that objective against the backdrop of where they stand. It will require the Department of Education and Skill to do some very serious thinking about how to make apprenticeships more attractive to women and there is access to them, ensuring that there is a better gender balance. I am sure is already happening in the Department and predated the equality budgeting initiative.

We are conscious that when a presentation is made about the equality budgeting initiative, it appears to fall on six measures and people can wonder what it is all about. In fact, it is about driving a process of policy-proofing that must be undertaken by Departments and examining a range of issues that relate to how we ended up with such a gender imbalance in the take-up of apprenticeships. The Department of Education and Skills will have to engage on a framework on that basis. What we are seeing here is the end of the pipeline.