Mairéad Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I have ten minutes so I do not have much time to ask questions. I might start with Mr. Brownlee. I hate to start on a negative but it is a question I need to ask and then I will continue with all the other things. I ask about the waiting times for the block-release training. I am new to the position of Sinn Féin spokesperson on further and higher education, but this is something that has already been raised with me. I was contacted by one first-year apprentice who has now been waiting for 70 weeks. I tabled a parliamentary question that went straight back to the person in question, which is fair enough because of GDPR and all that kind of thing. That person will now not be taken on until September, which basically means waiting 21 months. We need people to go into apprenticeships, people who have an interest in this and all that kind of thing. It is incredibly frustrating for the person in question and very demoralising. The person's life is on hold as a result. I ask Mr. Brownlee to outline how that particular issue might be rectified. That was just something that was raised with me. I want to go into other matters.