Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the comments by the Minister, Deputy Harris, on the importance of the role personal assistants play in the further education sector. I know that all the stakeholders, the Department, SOLAS and Fórsa are all hopefully coming to a conclusion. I hope the Minister will meet those who have contacted me from the Drogheda Institute of Further Education, DIFE, Ó Fiach Institute of Further Education and further afield. I also hope we can finally offer justice and proper pay to people who do necessary work for little pay in conditions that not many would deal with.

On apprenticeships, every speaker has brought up the issue of pay. That is obviously an obstacle for many, particularly during the cost-of-living crisis. There is an issue with a backlog and with the pay for educators. We know what needs to be done with workforce planning, whether in the area of retrofitting, the health sector or STEM. We all get the idea of lifelong learning and add-on courses. Let us deal with the issues and "more, better, faster" is the argument. I have a seen a fair amount of success in my county.

There is the Drogheda apprenticeship training centre. There is the Advanced Manufacturing Training Centre of Excellence in Dundalk. The Louth and Meath Education and Training Board has done a huge piece of work. We have seen the cybersecurity courses it is now offering. I am dealing with LMETB about expanding the route maps. We all get the idea of route maps going various ways, whether this is through PLC courses, third level etc. I have spoken to it. I will be speaking this week about when we are looking at community centres. I am thinking of the Redeemer Family Resource Centre in Cox’s Demesne in Dundalk and the Muirhevnamor Community Centre and the possibilities to have access to apprenticeships and pre-apprenticeships.

I could not let this moment go without mentioning that I was recently at a launch in Muirhevnamor for shared space peace funding. It was named after a friend of mine who we lost relatively recently, Kevin Mulgrew. This is down to his involvement in that community.

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