Aidan Davitt (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for outlining the plan. It is quite comprehensive. To be fair, he has listened to other parties and to all those who made submissions. I know several bodies that met him and he gave them a fair hearing. I have a few suggestions that he might take into consideration and they might be helpful with respect to the plan.

As the Minister knows, plans are easily devised but the hard part is their delivery. There is one serious flaw in the plan which relates to the fundamental problem of a lack of housing. Has the Minister tried to secure a builder to do any work recently? I have but with great difficulty. Builders are busier than ever. Skilled workmen are exceptionally hard to get. The Minister's plan is very ambitious and rightly so.However, I have a bad feeling. It gives me no pleasure to say it but, when the Minister gets to the top of the hill and looks back, his generals will be consoling him and cushioning him with advice, but his foot soldiers will not be there. I have concerns about the availability of skilled workers.

I am also here to give answers. I am not like some Members who only like to voice negatives and have nothing positive to contribute. When she was here recently, I asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Mitchell O'Connor, about the apprenticeship scheme, which employs 8,000 people. I am uncertain as to how many are skilled builders, but it is less than half. In 2008, 30,000 people were in apprenticeship schemes. The costs involved are an impediment to joining schemes, as employers lose that manpower and are out of pocket because they pay for the training. Addressing this problem would increase builder numbers. Saying this gives me no pleasure, but it is a genuine concern.