Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Thursday, 9 October 2025
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science
Apprenticeships: Discussion (Resumed)
2:00 am
Mr. Bryan O'Mahony:
At the moment, no. We would see that there are some student unions that want to increase the engagement. They are looking at ways of how they can do it. Going back to the orientations again, it is such a defining factor. We have orientations for international students, whether it is semester 1 or semester 2. When the access group is coming in, they might have their own orientation. When the first years come in, they have their own orientation. The apprentices never get an orientation or welcome to the scale that the average student does. It is a disparity that we are struggling to trying to get to access them, to try to meet with them and to see how we can best represent them. We can make assumptions of what they need. Until they are in the room with us and universities and colleges within the education cycle see them as a priority and treat them as any other student who deserves that same welcome, integration and supports and to know where the supports are and where they can access things, that is going to be the biggest cause of an issue for us.