Maria Byrne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I wish to highlight the fact that the Central Applications Office, CAO, deadline is tomorrow and I encourage all students who wish to continue to third level education, be it in institutes of technology, universities or any form of third level education, to think long and carefully about it. It has been reported that the largest number of job vacancies in 2017 were in the banking and financial sector and in accountancy. It appears there are not enough graduates in those areas. There are also many vacancies in apprenticeships. A small builder I know who is carrying out a project in Limerick is finding it very hard to get qualified bricklayers, carpenters and so forth. There is a shortage. This man is going to take people on and bring them through the apprenticeship programme. I hope to see more of that happening.