Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister is holding the fort for the Minister of State, Deputy Halligan, with these questions. I will not complain about a senior Minister doing so but Deputy Halligan was absent during jobs questions as well. I know he is doing important business for the State around the world. That is crucial and we welcome that.

The programme for Government's ambition is to double the number of apprenticeships to provide a total of 31,000 places. I hope it is more than a simple ambition and more of a target that can be disposed of. The last Government had a similar ambition but there was very little policy driving it. I look forward to the comprehensive policy in that regard. We need more than simply ambitions and targets and we need to change the entire mindset. There are highly developed countries like Switzerland where one might be picked for an apprenticeship or academia at a very early age. I am not saying that is the way to go but it shows a level of faith in apprenticeships in that they are considered of equal value to academic life. It is something we could look at. We want to see what is happening and get a wider range of apprenticeships. There is a traditional view of apprenticeships and that perception must be changed. It will involve all of us.

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