Lamp lighter, town crier, water carrier, horse-drawn cart driver, washerwoman - these were all careers highlighted in the 1926 census, which was published recently. I am sure many here looked at the national archives and saw those roles. They were all skilled roles. What happened was that technology came along and replaced them over time. It is critical for any society when technology comes along that people do not stand like Luddites, as we heard some colleagues speak previously, but embrace the technology, avail of the opportunities and, most important, ensure citizens are upskilled to avail of the new opportunities. AI is without doubt the most transformative technology we have seen in quite some time. The World Economic Forum reckons that in the next five years, while 92 millions jobs will be displaced globally, 170 million new jobs will be created in new areas, in exciting areas like healthcare and so on. I commend the Minister, Deputy Lawless, on the aiready.ie initiative and the proactive approach being taken by many universities and training agencies to upskill and reskill all our citizens. However, it will require a whole of society approach and we need to be ambitious because this will have an impact on every area. How are we embedding the use of AI skills - the value that can be added by their use - into every area of work from agriculture to transport? I will briefly mention another critical issue. We all know about the great work done by Youthreach and local training initiative programmes. I am familiar, for instance, with Youthreach in Gorey. The Gorey and Courtown local training initiatives, LTI, offered through Gorey Youth Needs Group do incredible, good work on the ground. Many young people have been able to avail of training and have gone on to pursue incredible careers. However, there remains a differential in the pay structures between staff who operate on Youthreach programmes and staff who operate on LTI programmes. Those inequities need to be addressed. The people providing young people with real opportunities need equity and I ask the Minister of State to prioritise that matter.

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