102. Deputy Eoghan Kenny asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science his plans for a renewed action plan to succeed the Action Plan for Apprenticeship 2021-2025; if the new action plan will have a focus on apprentice wages; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37310/25]

Sentiment score: 0.24

I thank the Minister. He made a very important point towards the end of his reply in terms of employers and apprentices meeting each other halfway. I have an aunt who has a hair salon in Mallow and I know from her of the difficulty of taking on an apprenticeship student and trying to make that work with one's own work schedule. Are incentives for employers to take on more apprenticeship students being considered? That would be welcome because it would incentivise employers to bring on more apprentices. The main focus of my question is on the fact that €7.41 is currently the craft rate for year 1 of an apprenticeship. That is an extremely difficult rate for students who are coming out of school to be able to afford a car or even the use of a car. They might be travelling to and from a certain location during the apprenticeship. How would they be able to afford to live on €7.41 per hour? It is really important to address that in the new action plan.

Sentiment score: 0.12

I have a slight difficulty with wages being negotiated between the students themselves and the employer. The State must have a role to play in the negotiations between apprentices and employers in terms of how wages are set. While it is the case that employers are not taking on a fully qualified person but someone who is moving into the trade, it is important that apprentices get a fair wage. I do not believe that €7.41 is a fair wage to start off on, especially in the context of running a car, renting a room in a house, buying groceries and so on. I welcome the improvements to which the Minister referred and the Labour Party will work with him on this.

Sentiment score: 0.35