Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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I thank the delegates for their presentations. As a former secondary school teacher, I am very interested in this issue. I worked in a DEIS school which offered a leaving certificate applied programme to children who were very suited to apprenticeships. Sometimes I believe the success that can lie ahead for those who pursue apprenticeships is not widely known and that that message is not being delivered. Instead of saying students can do this instead of going there, we need to tell them that there is a really successful path ahead for them if they pursue it. Encouragement is needed.

My first question is for Mr. Brownlee and probably obvious, given that I am a Green Party Deputy. I am particularly aware of the need for an increase in the number of apprenticeships in retrofitting, energy efficiency measures and so on. There is a huge body of work to be done to bring our homes up to the standards required, make them warmer, healthier and improve our quality of life. As things stand, it is my understanding a lot of the training in retrofitting and renovation and acquiring energy efficiency skills happens outside Ireland. Last week I was chatting to a housing expert who emphasised two very interesting points about the lack of skills training in Ireland. He said that with the revisions to the leaving certificate construction studies course, many students on leaving school who had taken the course were particularly well equipped to deal with many of the newer, greener aspects of construction than people who had been working in the area for decades. He also said that, fundamentally, the big thing that was missing in incentivising students to pursue green skills apprenticeships was job certainty once they finished their studies. While I welcome the focus on sustainability across all aspects of apprenticeships, what actions can be taken in particular areas such as retrofitting and renovation to encourage more participation and a greater uptake?

Currently, building standards are abysmal, under-regulated and under-inspected. There is a severe lack of trained professionals to do the work required. What supports are needed from across Government, not just from the Department of Education and Skills but also from the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation, the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government and the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment, to ensure that we will be in a position to provide these skills and encourage people to pick them up?

I was delighted to see an almost tenfold increase in the number of women taking up apprenticeships since 2016. It is fantastic to see that because we need to ensure diverse engagement with apprenticeship. I was here for the WorldSkills event a few weeks ago. The committee was delighted to see it. They are such fine young ambassadors and are so successful on that world stage for us. It is inspirational when they come here. I was fascinated by some of the roles. There was one young lady in freight forwarding and logistics. She mentioned that she would never have come across the role as a possible job if she had not accidentally stumbled across it. How do we highlight the broad range of apprenticeships that are available, particularly the more unusual ones?

My next question is for both SOLAS and the IGC. The IGC emphasised the need to have contact with students earlier than during the second half of secondary school. Is there a value in having apprenticeship engagement in the earlier part of secondary school or even in primary school, not just with students but with parents? The stigma in this regard has to be broken down with parents as well. Should we be reaching into primary schools?

In the context of the restoration of ex quotaguidance provision, I witnessed the impact that had in our schools and have consistently called for it to be restored. On the WorldSkills event, for the IGC, they are such fine young ambassadors for our country and in motivating and encouraging people to pursue apprenticeships. How can we effectively deliver that information to the students in our schools? Anyone who heard their stories would consider pursuing it. What sort of engagement would be possible? It would be lovely to put them on a road show but they have their own jobs so it is hard to do that. It is even difficult to get them here for the committee for that one day. Is there some way of working with schools, for example through video presentations, or to have one of those brilliant young ambassadors mentoring a class or having engagement with classes? Is that being pursued?

On the IGC and green apprenticeships, from the point of view of a guidance counsellor, how do we encourage more uptake of green skills? Are there any concrete plans or considerations given to how the IGC could engage with green apprenticeships?