Mr. Alan McGrath:

The answer to the Senator's question is "Yes". There is a specific action in the Government's plan for apprenticeships to support people with disabilities and other priority groups, which may include lone parents and people from ethnic minorities. A bursary will be developed and provided for that. In broader terms, there is support in further education and training in two ways. One is system-level supports to help embed an inclusive system that removes the barriers at source for people accessing education and training. Outside of that there are more individual supports, whether personal support or other learning supports that are required. Ms Doherty can give a bit of detail on that. Regarding the public sector, there is a target in the action plan for apprenticeships to recruit 750 apprentices per annum through the public sector system. That includes public sector bodies like county councils. The Department of Education has also hired people in recent years doing IT jobs, as electricians, or whatever the case may be. The plan is very clear that that will go up dramatically to 750 a year.