Mr. Pat Twomey:

I was lucky enough to be living at home and there was a bit of help from my parents. As well as that I come from a Gaeltacht and there was a grant for that to entice apprentices. However, money was a bit tight to keep the car on the road. Coming from the countryside, it was a bit tight in that regard. It was great to get the funding and that it progressed as we went along but the problem was that if we could not get into the likes of MTU or the ETB centres on time, that all slowed down. I was lucky enough, as were some of the others, to qualify pre-Covid-19. My course was to be four years but it went to four and a half. The courses are going on for longer than that now so when people keep getting put back and the money in that sense as well it can be annoying. That will definitely turn people off. If you know you are supposed to be finished in four years and then it becomes five years, it can be a bit annoying. However, as I said, I was lucky there was a bit of funding from home and from the grants.