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

Substantial progress is being made because we are now rolling out a whole range of new apprenticeships and we have an ambition to create 40 new apprenticeships in areas to which it will be much easier to attract women. Currently there is a tiny level of participation but 40% of the intake of the latest, the insurance practitioner apprenticeship, were female. We hope to introduce 13 new apprenticeships in the coming year and these will offer significant opportunities for women to get involved. They include areas such as accounting technician, international service specialist, international service associate and commis chef. They go right across a range of sectors, while the traditional craft apprenticeships have not attracted many women to participate.

As part of the expansion of the programme, SOLAS will introduce a new branding and marketing campaign and will focus on attracting women. There are already signs of success and there has been a dramatic turnaround in the example I gave. I share the Deputy's view on this.

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