Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independents 4 Change) | Oireachtas source

I welcome any additional apprenticeship placements. I also welcome yesterday's announcement of placements in respect of construction, nursing, etc.

I wish to discuss the underlying economic and social conditions. In a general sense, we have a cost-of-living crisis and a housing crisis and we are facing an existential climate breakdown. Starting pay for workers who build the houses and infrastructure needed to fight these problems is €6.84. I do not know what world the Minister of State thinks we are living in if he believes we will be able to build those houses, retrofit the country or build renewable energy plants while offering workers €6.84 during a cost-of-living crisis. SOLAS estimates that we need 50,831 new apprentices based on Government targets for house building, which are far below what is needed. Young workers are leaving this country in their droves because they cannot find homes and cannot afford the cost of living. The figure of 50,831 will be much higher, and much harder to reach, with the worsening housing and cost-of-living crises.

The problem with low pay for apprentices is a double-edged sword. For kids in working-class communities, the trades have always been a path to a decent life and a decent income. Low pay is a significant barrier to those young adults learning trades. On the other hand, there are council tenants across the country who have been waiting decades for proper repairs and retrofits. Dublin City Council's energy-efficiency retrofit programme is telling council tenants that they will have to wait at least another decade for retrofits. The council is giving a date of 2033 before all council stock is retrofitted. It justifies this by pointing to a lack of tradespeople to carry out the work and the fact that it cannot find contractors. Working-class people are being priced out of entering the trades. This is causing a shortage of workers, which is part of the reason for the significant double standard in retrofitting. Those who can afford to retrofit get grants while those who cannot afford it get to see their energy bills increase. Those living in public housing are stuck with damp, mould, single-glazed windows and doors and everything that goes with all of that. This afternoon, I raised the matter of the council flats on Davitt Road in Drimnagh. There is mould, single glazing and cold. Tenants have been asking the council to respond. Only recently have they started campaigning for proper maintenance to be carried out in their area. They held a meeting with the Community Action Tenants Union.

Tradespeople are essential workers, as are apprentices, and they will become even more essential as the housing and climate crises grow worse. The very least they deserve is a living wage that is indexed to the cost of living and able to provide a decent standard of living. The housing crisis and climate breakdown are horrific, but they are also opportunities to change and provide everyone with decent housing, decent pay and a decent standard of living. This needs to start with the workers who are going to drag us out of the crisis, which means proper jobs and proper pay for anyone who wants to enter the trades.

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