Mr. Tom Grady:

No. Mr. Brownlee and Dr. Trant would confirm this but there is something in the region of €40 million of a funding gap at this point to complete the payment of allowances for all of the apprentices who are to be called to phases 2, 4 and 6 between now and the end of the year. It is probably worth giving some context to the issue. There was a very significant backlog in apprenticeships and the focus in the last 18 months to two years has been very much on building the capacity to get those apprentices through the system. There has been significant investment by the Department and the NAO and an awful lot of work by SOLAS and the ETBs in increasing that capacity. When an apprentice is on the ground working their way though their apprenticeship, they start at the rate to which Senator Harmon referred but they should not be disadvantaged by not being allowed to move to the next pay rate because they were delayed. They should-----