Tim Lombard (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I ask the Minister for Education and Skills to include the traditional trade of cooper in the list of apprenticeships for Ireland. I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy John Halligan, to the Chamber. He is a man who has a great passion for apprenticeships. I note the announcement that 50,000 apprenticeship and training places will be brought before Government in 2020 via the new policy. It is an important statement of intent to ensure that trades and apprenticeships are promoted. The Minister of State is leading the way on that regard.

There are 27 different apprenticeships available in Ireland. Other countries, such as Germany, have anything up to 300 apprenticeship programmes which take into consideration some of the more traditional arts. I wish to bring one such trade, which is in many ways a dying trade, to the attention of the Minister, that of cooper. Coopers were a major part of this city and country's heritage over many decades. Hundreds, if not thousands, of coopers worked in Ireland in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. They made barrels for the distilling and brewing industries and it is a recognised worldwide trade. Whether one is in Scotland, Canada or other countries, coopers are considered to be skilled artists if not tradespeople.

We should consider having an apprenticeship programme for coopers so we can ensure the trade can be kept alive in Ireland. It is an important and integral part of the whiskey industry. In many ways, it is one of the key elements in ensuring our thriving whiskey industry can move to the next level. In June 2017, we launched a comprehensive tourism strategy for the whiskey industry which proposed tripling the tourist numbers coming to Ireland in terms of the whiskey industry between now and 2025. Part of that involves visitor centres, which are springing up all around west Cork and other parts of Ireland. We need to show how whiskey is distilled and the craft of the cooper so that we can show how barrels and caskets are made. That is an important part of telling this unique story.

We currently have a shortage and we need to work with the Department to ensure we can train skilled craftsmen and that the industry and craft can survive. There is no fear about the whiskey industry, but we need to tell the story from the beginning from where it starts in the fields to the craft of the people who make barrels and how we can ensure this part of our culture can be maintained. We should include coopers on the list of apprenticeships and work with the industry to promote this skill and art so that the entire industry can rise with the rise of the whiskey industry.