Dr. Jim Murray:

I thank the Deputy. The different functions in the system in terms of developing apprenticeships are distributed.

Our role is to respond to the programmes that have been developed. We do not play a particular role in generating ideas for new apprenticeships. That is for the broader stakeholder community, namely employers, industry and the State agencies that advise on policy. The Department is the policy director. It is a combination of all of those together.

As far as I am aware, we do not have any applications in for bus drivers or retrofitting at the moment. There are clearly demands in this regard, but it does require the stakeholders to come together - employers, policy drivers and employer representatives - to push it. The National Apprenticeship Alliance and the national apprenticeship office are the bodies that would take stock of areas that need to be developed.

Once decisions have been made, our role is to crank into action to validate the programmes and get them through the system quickly. It is a complex system in terms of the distribution of responsibilities. Our role is to make sure that once an idea has germinated, we engage on the technical side to get the programmes validated and make sure the appropriate qualification structure is in place.