Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will request updated information on the numbers. The Deputy has researched some of her own numbers. Suffice it to say that an integral part of our action plan for apprenticeships is that they be rolled out across the Civil Service and public service. That includes local authorities. The Department wants to see that action executed by our local authorities, by the Civil Service and by the public service, but the Deputy must remember - she raised the example of craft apprentices in the local authority sector - that the notion of an apprenticeship is that people earn as they learn. As well as the off-the-job training, employers act as tutors or people who are imparting knowledge. If the local authorities do not have particular knowledge or skill sets in-house - many of them now buy that in by way of contractors, as the Deputy will be aware - they may not be in a position to provide some apprenticeships. We can get that further information for the Deputy.

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