Liam Twomey (Fine Gael)

I wish to raise an issue concerning those individuals not in a position to complete their apprenticeship training because, for some reason, they are no longer working for the employer to whom they would have expected to return following their spell in college. It is estimated that approximately 7,000 individuals throughout the country are in limbo in terms of not being able to complete their apprenticeship training, mostly electricians, carpenters and others involved in the construction industry which is experiencing a massive downturn. There is a need for the Government to take radical action to assist these 7,000 individuals to complete their training. If they were able to so, it would, at least, give them an opportunity to travel abroad to seek work and make a living for themselves. There are great opportunities in countries such as Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom for young people with a trade to make a life for themselves. They know scope will be limited in this country for the next couple of years, but if they are young and have no commitments, they can avail of the opportunity to travel abroad to work. However, unless they can complete their apprenticeship training, the opportunity to earn a good wage abroad will not be open to them and they will have to go as unskilled workers, whom many countries will not accept.

There is a concern that if such a radical plan were to be devised, employers might put the apprentices they currently employ out of work and thereby swell the numbers involved. However, when drawing up a plan, the Minister could apply and enforce an entry deadline, for example, the end of this month, for apprentices not in a position to complete their training because their employer has gone out of business or laid them off. The Minister must do something radical. I am aware a payment is available from FÁS to apprentices if they can find someone to take them on. There is an opportunity for local authorities, State organisations and even the Army to take on these apprentices to help them to finish their training which perhaps extends to a period of six or nine months in many cases. It appears SIPTU is insisting on the individuals concerned being paid €600 per week and there is a sense it is obstructing the Government in coming up with a scheme to help them. I would like the Minister of State, Deputy Moloney, to confirm whether this is the case. However, if the end of this month could be used as a deadline for those apprentices not returning to their employers, we could allay any concerns the union might have that the figure could explode because employers would simply put the apprenctices they currently employ out of work in order to benefit from the scheme.

Whatever solution is reached - it must be reached quickly - we must do something for the 7,000 young men and women who have been left in this position. Many were in training for well over two years and, in some cases, over three years. We need to help them and it would not take much to do so. FÁS has the funding to pay them €260 per week. What we need to do is to mobilise the resources of the State to find positions for them. I do not know whether we could do this by finding them placements for them in the Army, the Naval Service, local authorities or semi-State organisations or even by asking private sector companies to rally round and provide those to whom I refer with assistance. There are approximately 300 individuals in County Wexford who require such assistance and it is possible to provide it for them. I ask that everything possible be done to provide this unique group with assistance. If they were college students and the Government closed down the institution at which they were studying, there would be uproar if they were prevented from completing their courses because this would jeopardise their chances of obtaining employment either here or abroad. I will be interested to discover what the Department intends to do for them.