Joe Flaherty (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the speakers for coming in. It is great to see the depth of knowledge and skills that are in this sector. The work both Teagasc and UCD are doing is probably transferring itself and reflected in the success that is Irish agriculture. They are to be commended in that regard.

I will address Teagasc first. I was listening to “Morning Ireland” this morning. As a Government Deputy and a member of the Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine, it can be difficult listening some mornings, but it was heartening this morning. There was research – I cannot remember who it was – that identified that farmers were number three in offenders in terms of the carbon crisis we face. It also identified that the farming community is foremost in trying to address the challenges. I thought that was heartening. There is a perception out there that the public is down on farmers and that farmers are the root of all evil, so that was heartening. We need to capitalise on that, particularly in terms of what Teagasc is doing in education. An awful lot of young people want to come into agriculture, not necessarily farming, but that whole agri space. It is hugely popular and we can see that in the young people attending much of what Teagasc is doing.

Teagasc only listed apprenticeships at number four, so I will not take that it prioritises apprenticeships. However, the Teagasc representatives will be aware that as a Government we champion apprenticeships. In particular, they would have seen last week that the young apprentice of the year for the first time is a woman, namely, Hazel Johnston, from Longford. She went the traditional academic route. She went to college and felt she needed to get a degree and all those things, but it was not working out for her. She got a job with an foreign direct investment, FDI, company, went the apprenticeship route and we see where she is now. As a society, we were probably obsessed and parents were getting young people to college and felt that was the best way to go. No disrespect to UCD, it probably is the best route for some people but it does not work for all.

On apprenticeships, I am not sure if Dr. Butler or Professor O’Mara can explain the following. The numbers are a bit vague. Are we still in single digits for all those apprenticeships or are those just the ones that have started? How many do we have?

What plans are there to try to scale apprenticeships?