Lynn Ruane (Independent) | Oireachtas source

While I am a great supporter of apprenticeships, obviously I have major issues with their class dynamic. When Mr. O'Flaherty referred to under-represented groups, I was wondering whether those who were under-represented in the uptake of apprenticeships were from the middle and upper classes. I work with schools in Dublin and teachers of middle class pupils have come to us to ask how they can make apprenticeships attractive to pupils in their schools. They are struggling to get them on board in considering the idea of taking up an apprenticeship. When I think about apprenticeships, I look at them through the lens of my school days when the only option for the majority of my friends and class mates was an apprenticeship. For me, it is about equality of access. It should be about choosing to take up an apprenticeship, rather than being told that it is the only thing available to the student because of who he or she is and from where they come.

Many of the delegates have mentioned the growth in registrations for apprenticeships. Part of me thinks it is good to have people working, but I view it in terms of social mobility. The evidence is that parents who only have a second level education and who take up an apprenticeship will keep going straight, while their children's social mobility will continue to spiral downwards. It is about being able to fill the gap; apprenticeships are not only about maintaining a certain number of people in a certain sector of employment, they are also about adding to the future progression and social mobility of young people as they become parents themselves and in terms of what their profession will mean for their children.

Since I was at school, there has been a widening of the apprenticeship programmes and sectors involved. Do the delegates have the demographics? Dr. Murray mentioned a figure of 14,871 registrations; SOLAS mentioned a figure of 4,500 by the end of October; while the Department of Education and Skills talks about strong growth, but I would like to nail down the social backgrounds of the parents of the children taking up apprenticeships and the schools from which they are coming. If the uptake of apprenticeships is highly concentrated among pupils from DEIS schools and more working class communities, what can we do to level the playing field in order that it will be more attractive across the board because college is not for everyone? Whether one is from a DEIS school or a really good school, taking up an apprenticeship needs to be a viable option for more pupils other than those in a particular social class. If the figures were available, it would be amazing to gain an understanding in that regard.