Steven Matthews (Wicklow, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

As the Minister knows, I engage regularly with the music and entertainment industry and I will continue to engage with the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Humphreys, and the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Deputy Catherine Martin, on that.

The Minister mentioned the pathways to work scheme. We must look at how we can encourage or assist people into mature apprenticeships. I refer to people who have been in different jobs. It is a big decision for someone who is slightly older with a family to return to do an apprenticeship, but it is something we urgently need. We must increase the number of craftspeople we have in this country to address the rate of construction we need in electrifying transport and retrofitting housing stock. I would like to work further with the Minister on how to encourage people in that direction. I come from an apprenticeship background myself, so I know what is involved in it and I know that measures are needed to support people to choose the apprenticeship option.

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