Marie Sherlock (Labour) | Oireachtas source

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit. I thank all the Senators for contributing. The reason we brought the Bill forward now is there is an urgent situation with regard to construction labour, in addition to a cost-of-living crisis, which the Minister of State acknowledged. While there was defensiveness on the Government side with regard to figures last year and the year before, there has been very little engagement, to be frank, from that side of the House on why we have seen a decline in apprentices and why we hear from contractors that they have difficulty in recruiting and retaining apprentices.

I hear what the Minister of State has to say about conversations going on with stakeholders, but there is an urgency here. We do not have the luxury of waiting around years and years for houses to be built. We are all only too aware, in the areas we live in, of the homelessness issue, which is there for us all to see. I say to Senator Ahearn, the cost of living tripled in 2022 so there is an issue regarding the attractiveness of going into an apprenticeship relative to many other sectors. Senator Gavan talked about people being paid €13 or €14 an hour to make sandwiches, while someone who wants to train as an electrician has to endure pay rates of €7.16 an hour in the first year of his or her apprenticeship. The key thing is whether we can align our apprenticeship system with the reality of where we are in 2023, when apprentices and contractors are saying to us that people cannot afford to stay in apprenticeships.

I hear what the Minister of State has to say regarding having to have engagement with stakeholders and what he said about the Low Pay Commission. However, do we really need to wait for the Low Pay Commission to tell us we need to treat adults like adults and not like children? I hear what Senator Keogan has to say with regard to those who are aged 16 and 17 and the fact that we are treating 18- and 19-year-olds like children, not adults. That is simply unacceptable.

It is very much to be regretted that there is a lack of urgency - that is the message going out from this Chamber today - in fixing the problem with apprenticeships in this country as regards construction.