Sarah O'Reilly (Aontú)

When discussing further education, we need to keep a strong emphasis on apprenticeships. There has been a sentiment of snobbery at times when it comes to pursuing craft or trade apprenticeships, and many young people have been pushed towards pursuing third level degrees, even when the programme of study does not suit their own passions. I welcome this motion's attempt to prioritise further education and the importance placed specifically on apprenticeship programmes. However, the motion leaves out a number of issues that constituents raised with me regarding their apprenticeships. Research conducted by Connect Trade Union found that 90% of those surveyed said their employer had paid them below the minimum wage during a stage of their apprenticeship.

The programme for Government highlights the need to increase uptake of apprenticeships, but it does not focus on the issue of pay or the significant challenges faced by those who choose to pursue an apprenticeship at a later stage of life. Last year, the Department stated the vast majority of craft apprenticeship rates exceed the minimum wage by year 3 of their programme. This is welcome but, unfortunately, people cannot get by on such a low rate of pay for the first two years. Many of these people have to pay rent and support themselves. Many mature students are also providing for children. People are dropping out of training due to years of delays and poor pay. The failure to reach our apprenticeship targets is directly connected to our ability to reach our housing targets. I look forward to seeing the full publication of the national survey of apprenticeships for 2024-2025, as the summary that was released at the end of April makes no mention of pay and conditions.

I will speak off the cuff about myself. In 2022, I did a professional cookery course. From my experience, the course started with 20 students and by the time we were finishing, seven people were left in the class. Because it was professional cookery, many students felt it was something hands-on they could do which was not overly academic, but when we got into the course, it was overly academic for those students and, even though they were supported, it became too much for many. Completion rates need to be looked at. From what I have witnessed, there is a high non-completion rate. The reason is that students may feel they are taking a practical course, but when they get into it, it is very heavy technically and academically.

I also wanted to raise the issue of the SUSI grant, which was raised by Senator Nelson Murray, and housing for students.