Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

A number of other measures could be taken at very short notice. An entire batch of apprentices in various crafts and trades are blocked. In the system that operates at present an employer sponsors an apprentice who then goes to FÁS and outreach education centres or colleges of education. In many cases, the employers are out of business now as they may have been in the construction industry. On the other side, the decision of the Minister for Education and Science to change the pupil teacher ratio means that teachers in many of these colleges of education will be gone by September.

Last week, I was with Deputy Barrett in Deputy Gilmore's constituency visiting the Dún Laoghaire College of Further Education. I suggest this system could be changed so that apprentices would be able to complete their apprenticeships through the colleges of further education in cases where employers go out of business and where there is nobody else in the region. It would mean they receive a piece of paper which is an international qualification. They should be allowed to do this.

The Taoiseach should speak with the Minister for Social and Family Affairs about the restriction on the back to education allowance. A range of people now out of work want to return to education to pursue a career but they are blocked by the system because they must sign on the dole for six or nine months before they can take on a course for which they might be well-qualified and which would keep them occupied in pursuing an alternative career. These suggestions could free up a number of places at very little cost to the Government.

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