Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The other issue, and this leads me onto questions raised previously, is a pathway and gateway to degree courses and further academic development to master's level for people who may want to take that pathway but are not ready to do so at a younger age. There is very much a "them and us" situation. People either opt for an apprenticeship course in the traditional sense which takes them down one route or they go to third level. The two routes never meet. In Germany and elsewhere, there is a symbiotic crossover of apprenticeships and academic third level facilities. Could we be more creative and imaginative in this area? An apprenticeship course might take people to a level 6 qualification and they could then move to a level 8 qualification and degree courses, before continuing even further.

While the State has been involved in overseeing apprenticeships, traditionally through FÁS and now through SOLAS, is there a greater role for the public sector, multinational companies of all shapes and colours and the financial services sector in providing apprenticeships? Are we creative and imaginative enough in giving either incentives or a stick to these entities to create more apprenticeship places? People may not always have the skill sets to go directly to third level or a financial institution but if they had an opportunity to go in under an apprenticeship scheme, they could develop skills in the system. Are we creative and imaginative enough in this regard?

On the issue of work permits, traditionally a free marketeer or capitalist believes that if there is a shortage of labour, the price of labour will increase and people will flow into that particular sector. Of course, it does not happen like that, particularly in lower skilled areas such as agriculture, parts of construction, horticulture and the hospitality sector. Does the cost of accommodation in this country create the potential for exploitation in view of the fact that, let us be honest, people could be working 40 hours a week for €10 an hour but if the employer's accommodation charges are excessive, it could have a major impact on that person? Is there any evidence this is beginning to happen? In a previous life, I was the Minister of State when we established the National Employment Rights Authority, NERA, which was vilified to be honest. During the previous boom, NERA began to unearth cases in the farming and fishing sectors which indicated that accommodation was being used almost as a prison because people could not afford to go anywhere else. Is this practice beginning to creep into the system again?