Mr. Tom Boland:

That is absolutely right. I was smiling a little as the Chairman spoke because I got into a lot of trouble a few years ago by saying much the same thing. I made the point that there were approximately 30,000 young men in the construction industry and that due to the apprenticeship model we had then, they had no other formal skills to fall back on in the event of a crash like that we have had. One of the key objectives of this new apprenticeship model is to have the apprenticeship system more connected into the post second level education system so that apprentices will have a broader range of skills and clear pathways for them to build on their skills as apprentices and crafts people, and to take those skills into other parts of the education system. This is fundamental. We can never again allow an apprenticeship system that creates a dead end for apprentices in the event the particular trades they have qualified in dry up.