Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I acknowledge the work of the Minister of State, Deputy Halligan, in this area. We are driving towards extra apprenticeships and opportunities. Various institutes of technology are looking at building apprenticeships into their course offerings. However, now - not in four years - we need to ensure that pathways and progression and not points are central to our education system.

We have to get away from the hang-up that, in the context of the leaving certificate, it is a race to an endgame of points. Our education system has to embrace the fact that there are different outlets, options and opportunities for different people. We are all different, we are all equal and we have to acknowledge that. Central in this regard is the realisation that it is about pathways not points. That is why apprenticeships have to be at the heart of the conversation.

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