Mr. Ryan McLoughlin:

I thank the committee for having us. I represented Ireland in bricklaying. I did not like school at all. It did not work for me. Apprenticeship was looked down on when we received career guidance. No one spoke about it. When we received career guidance, we were given a stack of books on all the colleges around the country but all we were given on apprenticeships was a leaflet. There was no emphasis on trades or anything like that. I followed the norm; I filled out the Central Applications Office, CAO, form and applied for colleges, but I did not want to do that. I started an apprenticeship and enjoyed it. Many more people could do the same. I was the first bricklayer to register in counties Longford or Westmeath since 2009 and I do not know of one since. There is a massive shortage of bricklayers and so on around the country.

In schools, there is a massive emphasis put on Higher Options and going to see colleges. I believe there should also be an emphasis on Ireland Skills Live to see what apprenticeships are about and what people do in the trades, because currently a person cannot see what is done in each trade just by looking at a leaflet or researching it. A person would have to see it to find out what it is about and it should be emphasised more.