Mr. Andrew Brownlee:

As the Deputy said, numeracy issues are big issues for apprenticeships. Obviously, a lot of apprenticeships are maths based, so that can be big issue. Five or ten years ago, a person with literacy problems would have had to be referred to ETB literacy services, which was in another building. There is a stigma attached to admitting one struggles to read or write, or struggle with maths but now most of our training centres have an integrated literacy service, which supports apprentices while they undertake training. That support is a big part of our apprenticeship strategy. Also, there is a programme called adult literacy for life. It is one of our big responsibilities to address literacy not just for apprentices but across our communities because a lack of literacy skills is still a major issue, and especially as digital skills are so essential these days as well.