Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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No.

The Deputy inquired about other models. The huge growth in third level participation here probably puts us at one end of the spectrum. As the Deputy correctly stated, approximately half of the relevant cohort in Germany would take the apprenticeship route. However, there is a route back, and this underlines the strength of the German system. It is not the case that someone who takes the apprenticeship route in Germany cannot return to the academic track. The German authorities allow for transfers back. Austria is somewhat similar to Germany. Spain is trying to integrate some of the features of the German system into its own. We are trying to do likewise. The difficulty for us in this regard is that we need to develop new apprenticeships, draft new legislation and so on. In the short term, traineeships - which have very high placement rates - offer the sort of opportunities people require. I would like to see further developments in this area because possibly it is closer to where our industry stands at present. In the long term, we want to see those in industry committing to apprenticeships in order to develop the skills bases of their sectors. In the short term, traineeships could have relevance in Ireland because they are not as time-intensive as apprenticeships, they are not as costly from an employer point of view and the placement rates attaching to them are high. Perhaps there is an opportunity here for a two-phase strategy.

On the issue raised by Deputy Lawlor, it is not so much a question of competition, because the tariffs in high-energy-use sectors are not that high. It is much more of a relocation threat - in other words, the prospect that businesses will actually move to the US to avail of the advantage of low costs. That is the real threat, as opposed to existing business being undermined by the free trade agreement. The tariffs in those high-energy-use sectors are only 2% or 3%.