Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the increase in the number and types of apprenticeships that are available. There is no doubt that the workforce and our working lives are very different to when I started working on building sites many years ago but the basic issue remains the same.

We treat apprentices differently from other workers. They are learning on the job but they are also working on the job and they need to be paid for the work they do. The Minister was absolutely correct when he said it is not fair that workers are paid subminimal wages. Not only is it unfair; it is a disgrace. The work of everyone who is trying hard to make the case to young people that it is a good career is undermined constantly by this low pay attitude.

The Government has the power to change this. It is not a disinterested or uninvolved party to this. Deputy Paul Murphy referred to local authorities earlier. We are constantly told that local authorities are struggling to get contractors to renovate homes or fix some of the tens of thousands of properties they own across the State. I remember the day in our house when there was something that went wrong. We called Dublin Corporation and the corporation workers came down and did the work. Now there has to be a contractor. To get that contractor, it is necessary to get maybe three different prices but they are not getting the three different prices any more. They are struggling to get one to contract for some of the work they are doing. There is a very simple solution to that which is to go back to the way it worked rather than subbing it out to private contractors.

We cannot escape the fact that the very apprentices in the construction industry who are building the houses and apartments and looking at their work are very conscious as they build these apartments and houses that they will never be able to afford to buy or rent one of the very buildings they are constructing. One cannot escape the fact that young people in Blanchardstown, Castleknock, Ongar and Tyrrelstown who are currently apprentices or are nearing the end of their apprenticeships are looking to leave our shores to head for Britain, the USA, Australia and elsewhere where they see better opportunities and a better quality of life. At the front end, work is ongoing to attract young people to this sector, which is difficult given the labour market and given that the Government’s targets have been missed. However, at the back end, just like nurses and teachers, we are losing these workers hand over fist to other countries.

Do we know the statistics? How many people are completing their apprenticeships? How many enter the local construction industry? How many qualified tradespeople are we losing? I ask because, as the Government puts it, we have very ambitious targets for social, affordable, cost rental and private housing units. The Government talks about delivering major infrastructural projects such as DART+, which will go through Dublin 7 and Dublin 15, BusConnects, schools, hospitals, community and sports facilities. To do this, we need highly qualified construction workers. If we do not get the basics right, including pay and conditions, access to education, and tackling the cost of living and the ability to be able to live in the country, we are producing these highly qualified people for the rest of the world.

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