Maeve O'Connell (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I do not know if there will have enough time to answer but I will ask the question. In terms of the pay, I hear the arguments. I have had students myself. Students can work 30 hours in retail while doing a degree, so why would they do an apprenticeship and take less? I totally get that. From the employer's perspective, employers have said to me that they can understand from their perspective, but this is someone who is a trainee. They say they are not as productive, plus they lose the supervisor who has to train this person in. Some employers, particularly smaller employers cannot afford to take someone on if they had to pay the full minimum wage. How do we fund that? Maybe it is a funding issue.