Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

When we have an all-time shortage of staff, to hear just 66 apprenticeship posts are being advertised on apprenticeship.ieis bizarre. We have scarcities in most of the sectors, including hospitality, finance, engineering, logistics, ICT and biopharma. All these sectors are crying out for new talent. All of them have representatives of significant weight. Why are those bodies not being leaned upon to recognise that the learn-as-you-earn model offers a way to attract young people into these sectors with huge growth opportunities? Huge work has been done and I fully acknowledge that but we need to get these partners going beyond approving apprenticeships to offering a pool of opportunities. It is not the same going to the site if there are only 66 posts. There are something like 30,000 places on the CAO site. The contrast speaks for itself.

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