Ms Meadhbh Costello:

We cannot speak with absolute specificity to Northern Ireland or the UK but one area where Ireland is a real outlier compared with every other apprenticeship system is the ability to access apprenticeship and vocational education at second level. We would like to see more opportunities for learners in schools today to be able to experience some part of an apprenticeship as part of the senior cycle curriculum, specifically in transition year, for example. There are very good pilots such as the STEM passport for inclusion, which operated alongside the traditional leaving certificate and allowed learners to access an additional credential in the STEM area. Potentially we should look at things like an ability to undertake a pre-apprenticeship as part of our senior cycle or some aspect of an apprenticeship system to promote it among learners in second level but also to give them a more direct route into apprenticeships.