Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am glad to confirm for the Deputy that we have spoken at length about the need to ensure the semi-State companies have a role in this initiative. I remind the House that the new chairman of the apprenticeship council comes from a semi-State body. The chief executive of the ESB is the chairman of the council. That appointment was made to ensure we have the necessary engagement in this area. As I said earlier, we want to make sure all the sectors are at the table when the council is making decisions. That will make them step up to the mark as well. In addition to advancing this initiative through the semi-State companies, we are also trying to see how we can use State contracts to address certain needs. We discussed that at a management meeting yesterday. I refer, for example, to social clauses like that which applies in the case of the Grangegorman site. A certain number of apprentices could be required. I am glad to say that the Office of Public Works started another round of apprenticeships in the last couple of months. In many of these cases, the number of places dried up in the last while. A number of new apprenticeships have been made available in the Office of Public Works. That is a key area for the development of talents. There has been a general increase in apprenticeships in all the trades. Deputy McNamara is right. We will monitor this to ensure the State bodies are involved.

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