Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will not accept the amendment to the Order of Business. We are either a parliamentary body that debates or not.

Senator Gallagher raised the issue of apprenticeships. I remind the Senator that the Minister of State, Deputy Halligan, and the former Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Bruton, introduced a whole new range of apprenticeships. The Senator is quite correct that we are quite low on the league table of apprenticeships compared with, for example, Germany, which has 40%. In contrast, 60% of people here go into higher education and we must correct that imbalance. It is to be welcomed that we saw a 25% increase in people taking up apprenticeships last year. I will certainly ask the Minister to come to the House to outline the way in which the €122 million is spent on apprenticeships. I do not want to divide the House and hope Senator Norris will not press the amendment on the Judicial Appointments Commission Bill.