Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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To be fair to career guidance teachers, I think we are changing it. If anyone had the opportunity to attend the WorldSkills Ireland event held in the RDS recently, they will have seen that the place was chock-a-block with students from all over the country, led predominantly by their career guidance teachers. However, we still have a job of work to do. Recently I met a group of young apprentices, working with Building Heroes. I asked them if they believed the word "apprentice" properly encapsulated what they do and they suggested there should be a discussion about changing the title. I have no fixed view on that because I grew up in a house where my late father always had apprentices. Should apprentices instead be called "trainees"? Do we need to change that? We have to change the viewpoint of the mothers and fathers of Ireland as much as anybody else.

We need more people to become apprentices. Without doubt, people can earn a good living. Some of the salaries that young people graduating with craft apprenticeships receive are eye-watering. More power to them because it is not an easy job but it is a fulfilling job. We need women to become apprentices, as I think the Deputy will agree. I met a group of women recently who are apprentice plumbers. A couple of years ago, I would have been taken aback by that but, thankfully, we are starting to see it now and we need to see more of it. We also need to see workplaces become places that are amenable and open to that level of change. In doing so, we must acknowledge that we would not any of this were it not for employers. We need employers to take on and train young men and women every year. Most of the training that apprentices receive does not come from a book or a white board but from the master craftsperson who shows them how to French polish, install a pipe or build a staircase. Apprentices do practical work and learn from craftpersons.

We also need to do an awful lot more in the public sector. Our ambition in this regard is good. It cannot just be the Office of Public Works, which has been much maligned recently, carrying the load for apprentices in the public sector. Local authorities, Departments and State agencies need to do an awful lot more.