Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I agree with Deputy Byrne. The ambition is to have 73 new areas for apprenticeships, meaning we got from the current 27 areas to 100 areas. As the Deputy knows, the employer takes on an employment contract and pays people from day one. It is slightly different from the State rolling out a programme and the employer must buy into it. This must be done by the assembling of consortia. It is a genuine partnership between the State and employers and we must grow momentum.

I agree that we and our employers have undervalued this area. It is a new culture of thinking within enterprise and we have just spoken about funding for institutes of technologies. This is an important avenue and role for institutes of technology and we must drive this to deliver it together. The regional skills fora will be a big element in how we get the rubber to hit the road, as they say, on apprenticeships.

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