Manus Boyle (Fine Gael)

It was brought to my attention by Councillors Martin Harley, Jimmy Kavanagh and Michael Boyle that the funding for the apprenticeship programme for education and training boards, ETBs, nationally will be cut by €40 million this year. This means a large number of apprentices will not be in a position to go from phase 4 to phase 6. This is ridiculous at a time when the country has a massive shortage of skilled people. We need to address it quickly, even before the summer recess, because it means apprenticeships will not be fit to go forward in September. Will the Deputy Leader try to find out where this sits? This is crucial. Our apprenticeships and our ETBs are working very well. This is something we need to get behind and back. There is a massive shortage of trained personnel out there. We are taking people in from other countries. Our own people want to do it. Will the Deputy Leader please find out where this stands?