Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister mentioned women and female participation, particularly in craft apprenticeships. Like the Minister, I was a teacher. In the latter part of my career, I noticed that more girls were taking on woodwork and metalwork. It has reached the point now where we see girls in my former school winning national awards. It is great to see the progress in that regard. Could the Minister outline some of the further steps he will take in increasing female participation?

My second point, as a supplementary, is in relation to craft apprenticeships in the round. Typically, it takes four years to complete a craft apprenticeship. With the backlogs factored in and with the delays some are experiencing in terms of block release, etc., has there been any analysis done in the Department to say it should take a carpenter four years to train but now it is on average four and a half years, or five years or five and a half years? Has the Minister any detail in relation that he can tell us?