Mr. Tony Donohoe:

In terms of apprenticeships, I probably covered in my previous comments what I would regard as the most important way to attract people in, namely, progression opportunities. The earn-and-learn model would be very attractive and would compete with the leaving certificate route if it enjoyed parity of esteem with the leaving certificate. We have 80,000 people applying for colleges through the CAO system. There are approximately 55,000 taking the leaving certificate but approximately 80,000 people apply through the CAO every year. The ambition of the apprenticeship plan is 10,000 per year. That will give the Deputy a sense of the scale of the challenge here.

At the risk of repeating myself, the plan is in place. It is really a matter of how it is implemented, the speed of take-up and developing new opportunities. For example, in biopharmaceuticals there are apprenticeships for laboratory technicians and in financial services the Insurance Institute has run a successful apprenticeship to encourage people in. They are attractive because they have progression opportunities and they are mapped through. Traditionally, Irish society puts a huge premium on education. It is part of our DNA. That is part of the reason the leaving certificate and entrance to higher education is an aspiration at nearly every socioeconomic level. That is what we are faced with in coming up with an alternative model that is attractive.

On Deputy Shanahan's question around linkages and international competency, I completely agree with his analysis of where the main challenges are. They are in the indigenous SME sector. It has always been thus since the 1970s when the FDI sector started to take off. It is a recurring challenge. Perhaps Dr. Power will be able to talk about what Enterprise Ireland is trying to do in that space. I remember that in the 1980s there was a formal business linkages programme between the IDA and the indigenous sector. Maybe that is something that should be revisited. As the Deputy suggests, it is well worth considering. In terms of what is happening specifically, perhaps Dr. Power would like to take up some of the Enterprise Ireland initiatives in this area.