Mr. Leo Clancy:

Absolutely. We feel there is huge potential for more apprenticeships across the country. You mentioned, Chair, that there are traditional apprenticeships which are great career paths. A lot of companies are delighted to get more apprentices. We see that on an ongoing basis.

As I mentioned earlier, we have a partnership with the National Apprenticeship Office, which is going to get closer in the coming months. We are going to have a very close working relationship with it on its new One More Job initiative and trying to encourage engagement. If lots of companies took one additional apprentice, it would have a significant impact. There are many companies that could take many more.

The other point mentioned was about new types and formats of apprenticeships. I have been involved personally with the ICT apprenticeships for some five to six years and I have seen how that has evolved. The traditional route to ICT is through a degree or diploma, but that need not necessarily be the case. I am a big believer that we can do a lot more in this space. I thoroughly agree with you, Chair. I think business does agree as well.