Carol Nolan (Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I totally agree with the Minister's point that students may make mistakes or errors in choices. Would the Minister not agree, however, that this is due to the cuts in guidance counsellors and the impact of that measure? Those cuts were at second and third level. The Minister has rightly pointed this out and I am glad he has acknowledged it. That is the reason.

I know the HEA is trying to improve practice, but I believe that the Action Plan for Education is quite ambiguous on the issue. It commits to no more than establishing a working group and identifying measures for consideration. Perhaps the Minister could give an update on the progress of the working group. How many meetings has it had? Will there be a report and - a key point - when will it be published? It is not good enough to simply identify measures. We need a clear commitment that action will be taken. We all acknowledge that there are serious problems around non-progression. It may be a good start to commit to the establishment of apprenticeships as identified by the Apprenticeship Council. We know there are skills gaps, as the Joint Committee on Education and Skills heard last week. It is my understanding that only three proposals have been implemented from the 85 proposals that were identified in 2015. The Action Plan for Education promised us ten new apprenticeship programmes to commence at the end of 2016. Clearly this is not the case. Will the Minister commit to providing the funding that is so badly needed? Will the Minister commit to ensuring the new apprenticeships come on stream for September 2017?

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