Dr. Mary-Liz Trant:

I thank the Senator for the questions. On building the prestige of apprenticeship, as mentioned by my colleague, Mr. Brownlee, there has been a lot of work going on over the last five years on the Generation Apprenticeship approach. Thankfully, we have 60 programmes available now, up from 27 five years ago, which span all 21st century industries in Ireland. The feedback is that employers have a huge role in promoting the benefits of apprenticeship as a pipeline in terms of what they offer people coming into their companies and the pathways they make available. We have 25 ambassadors around the country who have been excellent in peer-to-peer engagement, but also in working with schools and engaging with teachers and students in schools about apprenticeship as a fantastic route to a career.

There are many countries in Europe where apprenticeship is well embedded and valued. Obviously, our systems will never be the same. We need a change in attitude to apprenticeship as a route of learning right up to PhD level. Apprenticeships are really valuable and they have a huge amount to offer. We need to get that on the table, and at the critical point when people are making decisions about what they want to do, how they propose to get started in their careers and how they propose to upskill. The initiative, The Right Course, a website that presents everything together, introduced this year by the Minister, Deputy Harris, has been very helpful. It presents, for the first time, all of the options to people and encourages conversations about what people want to do, be that an academic course or a course that is work based. We have work to do. The new action plan sets out a number of steps to be taken in that regard.

On gender, the Senator is correct that there is a lot of work still to be done and also a need for a better understanding of the barriers, which vary. The Senator mentioned construction. The number of women in construction is relatively low. There are employers who are doing a lot of really good work in this area and they have shown results. Employers who have focused on this and encouraged women to come into their industry have that benefit and they are building on it. There are many small companies that do not have the time and effort to do this. This is where some of the supports nationally will come into play. That will form part of the plan.

Approximately one year ago, Skillnet Ireland gave a talk to a girls school during which the question, "Why can't we access apprenticeships?", was asked. That group of girls thought that apprenticeship was not for them. This shows there is still a level of understanding needed in the system about apprenticeships and who can avail of them, including that they are open to people of all ages and backgrounds. The next five years will be really important in building on the work that has happened. We need to get the 5% we have already to a level that is much more representative of our population as a whole.