Mr. Robert Strauss:

Members asked whether some countries have redefined apprenticeships and the simple answer is "Yes". Germany, Austria and Switzerland are the countries most associated with a well-working apprenticeship system. It is usually tied in with the vocational education and training system. Where it works best there is a seamless transition for pre-teen children or teenagers in a vocational stream towards apprenticeships and then jobs. In the past, such jobs were generally in manual labour or engineering companies but nowadays job options are much broader and can include IT companies and those operating in the services sector. In all developed economies the service sector is now much bigger than the manufacturing sector. Apprenticeships are no longer just for manufacturing jobs.

In Ireland, as I understand it, apprenticeship schemes were most common in the construction industry. That sector has collapsed and is unlikely ever to be as big again, so apprenticeships in the construction sector are of no use because there are no jobs at the end. Apprenticeships must be redesigned to fit in with the modern service economy. Germany and Austria have done this and companies of all sizes have links with the education system whereby the non-academic pupils are drawn through the school system and into an apprenticeship system which gives them highly skilled and well-paying jobs at the end.