Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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I welcome the delegation. We in Ireland have a higher level of participation in third level education compared to Germany. A delegation from the German state parliament appeared before the committee some time ago and when we explained the high level of participation in third level education, one of the Members of Parliament responded by asking who performed the jobs in Ireland and explained that Germany had a high level of training colleges and apprenticeships compared to Ireland. Will the delegates expound on the issue of employer linkages and the sponsorship of students? I know that companies sponsor students at masters and PhD level by paying their tuition fees with a view to employing them afterwards. Is there a role for this? In our education system we have the points race and people want to attend university and take ICT courses. Is it an attractive alternative for young people who want to take an ICT course to be offered an apprenticeship? How do the qualifications compare between an apprenticeship and a university course? Does the student who has studied at university have more marketable qualifications when seeking employment or going further?