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

I would very much welcome that. As I said, the precedent is already there in the House of Commons, so it should be easily transferable. The Oireachtas already has a relationship with DIT, which I believe is being developed separately by the Ceann Comhairle.

I have one query. All the Government's targets for apprenticeships are national targets and they require money. Does the Minister of State believe he will have the money? Can he say that these targets will be met because the funding will be available for them, or is some more radical option needed to try to divert some of the resources from the Higher Education Authority into training and apprenticeships and to move the student bodies around? While I am not proposing that, it is an idea some people have and it is certainly a model of education in other countries in western Europe.

See this speech in context