Kevin Humphreys (Labour) | Oireachtas source

Dr. Rigney makes an interesting point. I was employed by a progressive employer who was interested in life-long learning and worked with the trade union movement to develop training courses for people as they move through their career and their careers change. At the height of the last boom, quite a number of construction workers moved into the pharmaceutical industry, basically with a leaving certificate qualification. When the collapse came, one had to have a degree rather than a leaving certificate before one could get an interview. The required qualification increased. The State has a role to acknowledge the idea of lifelong learning and career changes. People cannot stay in the meat industry or building trades all their lives. The State has a responsibility to provide an education and outlet to allow people to change their careers at different stages. We need construction workers but a blocklayer cannot work laying blocks in his late 50s. He will not be physically capable of it.

I welcome the expansion of the apprenticeship schemes. My opinion is always to plan for the worst and hope for the best. In the last collapse, people had invested three or four years into an apprenticeship and were not able to finish it. When we are encouraging people to enter apprenticeships, there has to be a commitment that they will be able to finish that apprenticeship and will not be caught three or four years into a cycle when a collapse happens.

If a person goes to university to do a degree, they are safe enough and know the university will be there for the four year or five year degree. The same confidence has to be given to people who want to participate in apprenticeships that they will be able to start and finish, even if there is a collapse in the economy during the period. Nobody was chucked out of university but an awful lot of apprentice electricians were chucked out of their jobs and were not able to finish. We need to do a level of work on that.

Senator Reilly mentioned the whispers in regard to work permits. I work extensively in the inner city. One of the whispers on the go is in regard to work permits in the hospitality sector and related abuses, which I hear about on a regular basis. The other is in regard to the meat industry. It is good in one way when we say 22,000, which sounds like a lot, but it is not for a highly skilled job. In themselves, work permits are welcome but I am anxious in this regard. The witnesses mentioned the statistic that over 15% of our workforce were not born in Ireland yet we do not have the same issues that other countries have, which is welcome. However, we must have a well managed work permit system to make sure we do not go down the avenues other countries have gone down in the past.

There are small issues, for example, the exploitation happening in regard to stamp 4 permissions. I was just talking to a young woman who has a stamp 4 permission which she has to renew. However, because of the flaws in the system, all the appointments are booked and she has to pay a private company to get an appointment. We need to move very quickly in regard to closing down such abuses. This is somebody who wants to work and who we have encouraged to come here to fill a skills gap, but this is now being abused and she is required to go to the private sector. I will be approaching this with a view to ensuring it does not become a drag on wages and that people who come to this country to work and who require a visa are treated to a very high standard. We have not always been that good in such areas. The witnesses mentioned the work this committee has done in regard to the fisheries sector. I certainly would not be holding up my head with pride in regard to how we dealt with some people in the hospitality sector.