Ms Meadhbh Costello:

When it comes to skills, we are hearing from every employer across the regions and sectors that there is a skills gap and a shortage. It is hard to identify one specific area when the problem is across almost every industry and every business we speak to. The SOLAS skills and labour market research unit has excellent data, which it produces on an annual basis based on its difficult-to-fill vacancy survey. It pointed to the STEM careers, particularly in areas such as engineering and quality assurance, where employers find particular difficulties in recruiting candidates.

If we are to achieve ambitions in areas such as climate change targets and retrofitting, we need to focus on some of those careers and consider how we can develop new apprenticeships and reflect on how the programmes we have should be updated to ensure the skills that apprentices are learning best reflect what the experience is in the particular industry and what the national needs are. I know SOLAS is going through a validation and review of many of the craft programmes and we hope that that would also reflect some of those points. My colleague, Ms Harkin, may be able to respond on the piece around pay.