Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator. I take on board his views on those leaving secondary school. He said there were up to 9,000 students taking construction studies and it is great that they are considering the trades. The Senator also noted how hospitality and healthcare are.

Education and training relevant to the skills needed in the construction sector and the green economy is delivered across the full remit of the tertiary system and through mainstream education and training, as well through specific programmes such as Springboard, the human capital initiative and Skillnet.

In the area of healthcare, the advanced assistant practitioner is managed by an apprenticeship consortium, which includes representatives from the private, home and community care sectors and currently has an active population of 45. There are also discussions between officials at the Department and counterparts in the Department of Health, the HSE and Tusla on the development of other apprenticeship programmes in the healthcare sector. Among the 65 apprenticeships currently available, 25 are craft-related and, more specifically, include housing, retrofitting-related programmes, green skills activities relating to a range of construction and engineering-related programmes, including plumbing, carpentry and joinery, and the recently launched wind turbine maintenance technician programme. There are, therefore, many different apprenticeships and that is very much to be welcomed.