Mr. Ciar?n Nugent:

To add to that, the level of pay at apprentice level for a school leaver who is 16 to 18 years of age is an issue. I am not advocating that the SUSI grant be taken from working-class households, but there is a big gap between those grants and apprentice pay. People compare getting the SUSI grant to having to work for many hours and get up at 5 a.m. to work in an industry that might collapse in ten years' time and force them to emigrate. There are mismatches in terms of the State's intervention in increasing incomes.