Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Only last week, I referred to how apprentices were excluded from the national minimum wage. I make no apologies for repeating that. In speaking about apprenticeships, we are speaking about workers, including the workers of the future. We are also speaking about what it means to work and the conditions one should expect in the workplace. Furthermore, we are speaking about the value that the Government puts on people in training. Its deferral of a recent Bill in the Seanad that aimed to ensure that all apprentices were paid the minimum wage appears to confirm that it is okay to view apprentices as cheap labour.

That is extremely concerning. When we see there was a reduction last year in the number of people taking up the new apprenticeships, we need to question why that is.

Gaining skills is an attractive prospect, which will stand to people who gain those skills through the apprenticeship programme but if people are to be attracted to a programme, they need to be guaranteed a rate of pay that at the very least meets the national minimum wage. At a time when it is taking longer for some apprentices to qualify because of a difficulty in accessing off-the-job training, especially for craft apprentices, it is hardly surprising that a reduction was recorded last year. Furthermore, the availability of qualified tradespeople to provide that training particularly in ETB centres where phase 2 training is concerned is another area of difficulty again due to current pay scales which make it more beneficial for them to work on site than in the classroom.

I note these points because with a housing crisis and the need to build new houses at volume, we need to ensure the number of apprentices available can meet what is needed. The conditions of the apprenticeship need to be such that they attract the demand for places that we need to see.

It is also important that local authorities provide craft apprenticeships in their capital sections. The State needs to lead by example as the State and local authorities have important roles to play in the provision of accommodation. The use of social clauses in public procurement contracts to promote the creation of new apprenticeship opportunities is an important avenue to pursue. The benefits this offers for the rate of production and the availability of apprenticeships cannot be underestimated. In short, we need to take whatever measures are needed to make apprenticeships as attractive and as available for new entrants as possible, given the pressures of the rising cost of living and demand for skill sets to address the headline needs of the country right now.

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