Aidan Davitt (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State who is one of the most active Ministers of State in government. He is hard working and always willing to listen to those who make logical arguments. I welcome the good news he has brought to the House. However, as an employer, I find it hard to understand why some employers are being treated as fish and others as meat. In the context of the apprenticeship programme, for example, there is a significant financial incentive for employers in certain trades to take on apprentices. That is true of apprentice electricians, plumbers and those involved in the wet trades. However, under the new apprenticeship schemes that have been rolled out recently in auctioneering, the insurance sector and so on, there are no financial incentives for employers to take on apprentices. I have two apprentices working with me. They travel to Dublin one day a week. We are paying their wages and for their training. It is great to have them skilled up and put them on the path to employment. However, as their employer, there is nothing in it for me. I am not been treated fairly in comparison to an electrician or a plumber, for example. I urge the Minister of State to consider making a small payment for the days on which the apprentice or trainee is off site and engaged in a formal education course. Employers should receive some grant in that regard. It would encourage more of them to take on apprentices or trainees. We are talking about meaningful jobs at the end of the process and there is no better way to learn a trade than in the workplace.

I again welcome the Minister of State and appreciate all of the work he is doing in the Department. However, I urge him to strongly consider introducing a small grant for employers. It is hard enough to be without workers for a day but having to pay them while they are off site is quite a challenge for small employers. I ask him to raise the issue with the committee to which he referred.