Peter Fitzpatrick (Louth, Independent) | Oireachtas source

As the Irish population is estimated to grow by 1 million by 2040, increased demand for homes, transport, education and employment will inevitably cause a continual housing and infrastructure crisis. Project Ireland 2040 estimates that 550,000 homes will be required over the next 20 years, and the national development plan commits €11.6 billion to provide 112,000 new social homes by 2027. The State training agency, SOLAS, found that more than 50,800 skilled workers will need to be recruited if the Government is to meet its targets for building new homes and retrofitting hundreds of thousands of existing homes. How can we meet the requirements of Project Ireland 2040 and how will the construction leaders of Ireland overcome recruitment barriers? With a smaller pool of young people entering skilled trades, the Irish construction industry needs to employ more women in construction if the industry is to have a sustainable future. Skilled trades require agility, endurance, balance and co-ordination and not a specific gender. Women are woefully under-represented in the construction industry which faces the largest gender pay gap of all sectors, with a 23.7% discrepancy between men and women for the 2021-22 financial year. We know that the industry offers a diverse range of career options from carpentry and civil engineering to management but to many on the outside, construction can still be seen as labour-intensive work requiring physical strength and dominated by the outdated stereotype of male building-site culture. This view needs to be challenged by both businesses and at grassroots level if progress is to be made.

Construction is a universal language of global commerce. A person can secure work all around the world and it offers a wide variety of career options. If the necessary cultural change does not happen, there will be a shortage of skills, including house building and retrofitting skills. There is work to be done with educating women and girls about the breadth of career choices within construction and related core subjects from an early age in order that it is seen as a viable career choice. Part of that conversation involves businesses looking at what they can do to encourage women to apply for roles and examining how they can retain and invest in their skills. The Minister has agreed that changing the conversation in schools is the first job in a cultural shift. I have read about the Construction Industry Federation’s building equality campaign, which is aimed at increasing the number of women working in construction. The campaign encourages women within industry to share their stories and become role models for girls and women considering a career in construction so as to highlight their importance within the sector. This is a positive step in the right direction. It is very important that the construction industry participates in outreach programmes to schools across Ireland to educate career guidance teachers and students alike on the range of career opportunities available to both men and women.

This year’s CAO forms for the first time offered apprenticeships and not just university options. While I commend the Minister on this, there is a real need to take education beyond the walls of the universities. It is essential that for every penny going into universities, matching funding goes to apprenticeships and further education training programmes. I welcome the €30 million expansion to the apprenticeships programme in 2023, as well as the additional funding for social inclusion measures in apprenticeships, such as a bursary for apprentices from under-represented groups. Funding will also be provided for 4,800 additional apprenticeship places and 4,000 registrations, as well as 11,000 more upskilling and reskilling opportunities for those sectors most impacted by Brexit. It is also great to hear of the investment into reform for disadvantaged children through the access to apprenticeship programme, which supports the transition of young people aged 16 to 24 years from under-represented groups into national apprenticeships. This is a great initiative and it is changing people’s lives. Over 80% of those who have participated to date in these access programmes continue on to become apprentices.

These are all great initiatives but the pay gap for apprenticeships must be mentioned. Learners who participate in an access to apprenticeship programme in Technological University Dublin or Technological University of the Shannon from September 2023 are eligible to apply to the National Apprenticeship Office for a €3,000 bursary. This will help to support living costs including travel, accommodation and materials. However, more needs to be done regarding the minimum wage an apprentice receives, with some as low as €6.84 per hour. I acknowledge that the Minister, Deputy Harris, has already started negotiations to try to bring about significant increases in apprentices' pay, both by considering adaptations to existing minimum wage legislation or by negotiations with employers and other representative bodies to remove obstacles that employers are facing when recruiting apprentices and to hear their views on a minimum wage.

Returning to the investment into reform for disadvantaged people, I would also like to commend the Minister on the establishment of a task force for education and apprenticeships in prison to try to cut reoffending rates. It will establish two pilot training programmes, a catering apprenticeship and a programme in retrofitting, to be delivered within the prisons. The apprenticeship programmes will be key. As part of this work, prisoners will have an ability to access education within the four walls of a prison and leave with a qualification that can open doors for them when they leave prison. It will also support prisoners who may have started an apprenticeship before entering custody to continue their training. Breaking the link between criminality and vulnerable young people will be essential if we are to divert young people away from lives of crime. We can all agree that we are equally serious about ensuring that crime does not pass down through generations. Through education, targeted initiatives and funding and investment, we can offer support and direction to get their lives back on track and provide an exit route for people who have already been ensnared in criminal activity.

The availability of apprenticeships provides an alternative for school leavers who prefer practical training to a full-time college programme, or those who started a college course and found that it did not suit them. I was delighted that in October 2022, Louth and Meath Education and Training Board announced the establishment of a major apprenticeship centre in Drogheda, the first of its kind to be established in Ireland. The great news is that Ireland is on course to recruiting the highest number of apprentices in years, with 3,000 new registrations already in the first five months of this year. We are likely to end up at 9,000 registrations for 2023 and predicted to hit 10,000 apprenticeships next year, which is an amazing achievement.

Overall, great work and initiatives are being done in terms of the inclusion of women, impoverished children and those in prison. However, more needs to be done in terms of the apprenticeship pay gap and to support businesses in the recruitment and retention of apprentices.

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