Fiona O'Loughlin (Kildare South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I accept what the Minister of State is saying. I am aware of the bursary. I mentioned that it was in place. I accept that the number has doubled and that we are now at a figure of 4%, which is still rather low, given that 96% of apprentices are men. Although we can see progress, far more has to be done. Although the bursary is in place, far more must be done for women who wish to take up apprenticeships. The provision of adequate supports must be facilitated through organisations such as SOLAS and ETBI, as well as the FIT initiative, with which we engaged recently. All of the State training agencies should help the relevant apprenticeship groups that are under-represented. People with disabilities are also under-represented. Only 1.5% of those involved in apprenticeships have a disability. It is important that we look at them as an under-represented group. This is possibly where we need to work with employers to put in place incentives to ensure we will have genuine equity and equality across the board.

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