Apprenticeships: Statements
Seanad Éireann — 2026-02-10
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Anne Rabbitte (FF), Nominated by the Taoiseach

I thank the Minister for being in the House this evening and for the opportunity to speak on apprenticeships. As the mother of a son who has qualified with his degree after receiving it through an apprenticeship in finance and insurance through Atlantic Technological University Sligo, it has been an absolutely fantastic opportunity, and I cannot praise it highly enough. The opportunity was as a Covid child of the leaving certificate, who actually said to me at one stage, “I am a sprint finisher, mother”, which meant he did not have enough done when they were doing the grades at the time. This meant he might not have got what he wanted. He went through the college system because he was told he had to do it by his mother, and by Christmas he said it was not working out. What he did have was the opportunity to partake in the apprenticeship and to work in finance and insurance, and it has paid dividends. He managed to earn and learn all the way through it and sustain himself while in college. It gave him that opportunity for independence and build confidence as a person who had to take a second chance.
When I talk about second chances in the time that is left to me, there is also wonderful work going on in relation to social work, with the HSE and Tusla, where we have people with the lived experience able to partake in social care and bring their knowledge of the care system and what it is like to be in foster care to engage with young people at their level. Expansion of what is being delivered at the moment through UCC right across the country would be really welcome. It is fantastic to have the Rose of Tralee here tonight, who has been an ambassador not only for women, but women in apprenticeships. I really welcome that. It was wonderful on the night of her interview that she was able to talk so openly and fondly about her role and how she got into it. We need more ambassadors like that who can promote the role of apprenticeships.
I agree with Senator Scahill that we need to bring apprenticeships into every parish and every community where there are ETBs, and where we can ensure access to education. When we look at housing and the cost of transport, we need to ensure we are market-ready for the next steps. I have no doubt, through the Minister of State’s good leadership and with the office and the team behind him, having secured €76 million in the latest budget and having apprenticeships front and centre, meeting sectoral demands, that is where we will drive innovation and keep our youth at home. Doing an apprenticeship means that these young people are innovators as well. They are agile and willing to change. We need to show that mainstreaming all children one way gives us one result. We need to be open and versatile, and that is what the Minister of State’s good office does.

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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