Apprenticeships: Statements Seanad Éireann — 2026-02-10 ============================================================ Gareth Scahill (FG), Nominated by the Taoiseach The Minister of State is very welcome to the House this evening. I had been looking for this debate for some time so I welcome the opportunity. Senator Daly mentioned his baptism of fire in metalwork. I have to compare that to my introduction to the Seanad. Two weeks ago, I was at the launch of a showcase for an electric vehicle maintenance skills course and a wind turbine trainee programme, which has been running in Roscommon, funded by the EU just transition fund. That is exactly what that fund was created to do, namely, to create those employment opportunities for people in those areas. Last Friday, I was invited to attend the Galway-Roscommon Education and Training Board launch of a bursary for construction by the Ballymore property group. I know the Minister of State sent her apologies to that. It was created to support the development of construction skills. The CEO of Ballymore, Mr. Sean Mulryan, a native of Roscommon, came down. He is making a sizable donation over the next five years to that sector. He spoke at the event about going on a blocklaying apprenticeship with AnCO, which he was lucky enough to get back in the day. He received a stipend of £2.50 per week and his accommodation at £7.50 was paid for as well, so £10 is what was there. That this gentleman is now putting €500,000 into apprenticeships over the next five years just shows how an investment in that sector can pay multiples back into our society. Previous speakers spoke about capacity building and the need for more trainers. I would like to talk about the delivery of these training places where they are needed most. It is great to have Katelyn here today as a flag bearer for female apprentices. Congratulations. I did not recognise you from the dancing on Sunday night. You have less make-up on this evening. Congratulations on that show too. From the findings of the national survey of apprentices that was launched in September, we know that 8% of apprentices at the moment are female. We also know that 24% of the apprentices are between the ages of 23 and 30, and nearly 13% of them are above that age. I think that one of the barriers to a lot of older people going into apprenticeships is having to travel for their training facilities and having to go to these urban areas. Previous speakers mentioned the money that is available for apprentices, but the cost of actually going into these urban areas and paying for accommodation is not easy for these people. It is especially a barrier for older women leaving home. Maybe this is something we need to really look at. When the Minister, Deputy Lawless, was in this Chamber for the two previous conversations, I was crying out to him for an apprenticeship centre in Roscommon. It is great to have these small initiatives that are delivering, but the Galway-Roscommon Education and Training Board is crying out for this and has been presenting for the last five years an opportunity to deliver these skills in a place like Roscommon. Giving apprentice trainees the opportunity to drive against the flow of traffic from these urban areas and probably stay at home and actually do their training in the locality is something we need to look. I believe there are three or four counties left in the country that do not have a dedicated apprenticeship training centre. We are one of them. I know the Minister of State is in a neighbouring county so she would be happy someday to visit us in Roscommon and look at the opportunity and maybe meet with the ETB in relation to that. The reason we have to focus so much on delivering these apprenticeships where they are needed most is that we have introduced policies and strategies that have created the demand for these places. We have committed to major programmes around infrastructure, housing delivery, house adaptation and retrofitting, yet an awful lot of people who are entitled to access some of those schemes such as house adaptation or retrofitting are facing delays of 12 to 24 months, not because of a lack of funding but a because of a lack of the people to actually do these jobs. I welcome the fact the Minister of State has said she will engage. Before I finish up, I need to mention FÁS and CERT, two flag bearers for apprenticeships that we had in the past. The Minister of State would have been very familiar with them in Sligo. These entities were allowed to shut down or be wound up ibut they served a serious purpose. It was something that we were recognised internationally for, especially in the case of CERT for the hospitality skills. That was wound up in 2003, as far as I know. There is a huge demand for chefs, bar staff and other hospitality staff and a vehicle like CERT is needed. We need to deliver the training places where they are needed most, potentially in rural areas. I would welcome further engagement on that. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-02-10/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:36+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-02-10