Paul Nicholas Gogarty
Dublin Mid-West · Independent · Ireland
“As I have mentioned in the House before, if a border poll passes by 52% to 48%, the legal threshold of the Good Friday Agreement is met but the social consensus is not and moving 800,000 citizens into a new state against their explicit, democratic will does risk causing civil unrest.”
“We also have other gaps that are much smaller, like a ten-year phased transition, reducing the net annual cost to between €2.5 billion and €3 billion. We then had the middle figure of about €11 billion. We actually do not know how much it is going to cost but we do know it is going to cost something.”
“For example, adopting a single currency, getting rid of the exchange rate volatility and the transaction costs for cross-Border businesses are all advantages.”
“I would be loath to call a border poll right now because of the risks associated with that, but if a border poll did occur, the State would have to be prepared for the huge structural disruptions that would follow, so we have to start working now - that is why this debate is welcome - without arrogantly presuming it is going to become a r…”
“I have been listening to this debate in my office since Deputy Currie started her contribution. I always follow these debates on Irish unity with interest as someone who wants to see a united Ireland by consent.”
“Some have been mentioned in this House, such as a devolved regional assembly in Stormont to preserve local governance for the unionist community, a shared bill of rights protecting the dual Irish-British citizenship, and re-evaluating our relationship with the Commonwealth.”
The complete record
Every one of 1,194 lines we hold for Paul Nicholas Gogarty, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 14 of 24.
“We can look at what our resources and our obligations are under UN conventions and what is and is not possible. Above all, it would put to bed a lot of the myths and misinformation and allow a proper, reasoned and respectful debate. Could that be done concurrently with any other discussion in these Houses?”
“I noted the Tánaiste's earlier comments about a national migration strategy due in 2026. I presume this is the national asylum and migration management strategy that relates to the EU asylum and migration pact in which we are currently participating. In that context, given that we are a representative democracy and we have occasional debates on this issue, in order to stop the manipulation on the far left side of the politics of identity and on the far right of the politics of hate, we need more debate. We need more debate. Yesterday, I asked whether the Government would consider a citizens' forum on this issue. A citizens' forum would include a lot of newcomer citizens who came to these shores and now are Irish citizens. They would be able to contribute to the debate.”
“We need a citizens' convention on the issue of asylum policy and immigration to facilitate a fact-based, respectful discussion that takes into account our international obligations to support those fleeing persecution and also looks at the common good in Ireland and our capacity to provide support for people. That would be a fair discussion. We can discuss immigration and asylum but not other people because of their background or the colour of their skin. Let us please have that wider debate.”
“I have said to the Taoiseach previously that many of them are genuine, decent people who only want a better life, but the asylum process is not the way to apply to remain. We need workers, as Deputy Fitzmaurice said, and we always will need workers. There is an issue with an industrial policy that brings the likes of software localisation to Dublin, where there is huge pressure on house prices, when there are rural areas that could do with more children in local schools and where shopfronts and rooms above shops are lying idle. That is an issue for a wider debate.”
“I cannot say much in two minutes other than to point out that we need a much wider debate on this issue. Without proper, respectful discourse, a vacuum is created and that vacuum is taken over by radical groups that foment hatred and spew disinformation. That leads to there being open season to verbally abuse and possibly physically abuse anyone on a bus with darker skin. We have seen that happening all around the country and I have seen it in my constituency. It is absolutely reprehensible. At the same time, there are groups using identity politics to stir up, antagonise and cast aspersions on people who raise genuine concerns. The fact is that 74% of asylum applicants in the country at the moment are found, after appeal, not to have the right to remain. They are economic migrants.”
“We also have a lack of cohesion between the stakeholders in terms of the planning, EirGrid and the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, CRU. I do not see the joined-up thinking to meet our climate action targets or our energy production targets. If we want to get to net exporter status, we need to fast-track our investment in the grid. While this €1.5 billion is welcome, we need a tangible €13.5 billion-plus investment to happen in the next three to four years.”
“However, we should also provide people with more education about how to reduce bills themselves. I have mentioned in previous contributions that the visionary aspect should be that we should be a net energy exporter, assuming we have capacity for ourselves. To get to that, we need to have more consistency and more clarity on the energy storage policy framework, for example, which has an immediate procurement target of 500 MW for the transmission system and 500 MW for demand flexibility for the distribution. However, there are criticisms about this. There is no long-term concrete mechanism or any example of urgency. I would like to see clarification in terms of long-duration energy storage. That would be beneficial, as would conversion to green hydrogen.”
“In that context, I agree with colleagues in terms of subsidising the bills people are facing right now. It does make sense to continue it. I welcomed the continuation of the 9% VAT on electricity but I do not see anything going towards getting people to reduce their energy consumption. Back in the 1970s, we used to hear about closing doors and switching off all plugs because there is seepage from leaving on Wi-Fi at night-time or from leaving USB chargers plugged in. There is not enough information out there to help people to reduce their bills. I have noticed that constituents, especially older ones, do not change over their tariff after a year has elapsed. They are stuck in an overpriced standard tariff when they could be saving money. I agree that the Government should be helping people during these tight times.”
“My definition of private wires would be more about an area like a housing estate that has a wind turbine beside it or an array of solar panels where people can be offgrid in a situation like a storm so they are able to switch over to their own group generator. I would like to get more information on that type of thing. I agree that data centres need to be able to produce their own energy and feed into the grid rather than taking out of what we already have. To be positive, I notice the microgeneration support scheme and the clean export guarantee tariff already in place for exporting excess renewable electricity to the grid. On a massive national scale in terms of having the potential to be exporters, we have to first of all make sure that we are efficient in our usage.”
“It is a massive investment that is needed but we need to see the detail of what is coming to modernise and future-proof the grid. We are talking about a potential €10 billion to €13 billion investment plan up to 2030. However, a couple of things need to go alongside this. I note a private wires policy statement was published in July that outlined scenarios whereby private developers can build and own electricity lines to connect generators to customers. I do not have an issue with that in principle but I do have an issue if it is purely to allow companies to create their own private sections that will impact on the grid.”
“This legislation is welcome, if modest. As others have mentioned, it is a response to disruption caused by Storm Éowyn. It will allow for the creation and maintenance of forestry corridors and vegetation management, subject hopefully to environmental obligations under the Habitats and Birds Directives. I have no problem with the legal mechanism to make an additional €1.5 billion equity investment in the ESB to part finance the PR6 energy grid investment programme. However, I am more interested in the larger scale investment required. Obviously, we note the proposal to raise the statutory borrowing limit from €12 billion to €17 billion to help to finance proposed future capital projects, including the new lines, the underground cables, the upgraded substations and the 50,000-plus electricity poles.”
“Is there a middle way where there could be a ticket-based system where it says: "under investigation", "processing", "completed" or "no issue found" because it goes into the ether and no one knows what is happening with that landlord? Sometimes it can go on for two years and it is as if they are just getting away with it. We need some sort of transparency as to whether criminal proceedings are being proceeded with.”
“Every now and again, I raise issues on behalf of constituents relating to dodgy, unscrupulous landlords who are not registered with the Residential Tenancies Board. In some cases, they are also exploiting their tenants. In other cases, they are not planning compliant and operate in a very dangerous way. However, when I ask for an update from the Residential Tenancies Board, it says it cannot update parties who have made referrals, it would not be appropriate to do so given the fact the RTB may be pursuing a criminal prosecution and it might prejudice the case and if it is updating any person other than the non-compliant landlord, it could be dangerous and there are also data protection issues. Can this be looked at?”
“What it means to be a man and what masculinity is have been toxified - deliberately, in many cases - and people are afraid to expand and be true to themselves in terms of what it means to be a man in Ireland in 2025. We need more discussion of that. Men come in all shapes and forms, and more power to them.”
“That survey recognised that life expectancy for male Travellers was 15 years lower than the general male population. That needs to be looked at as well. The report mentioned more than eight in ten Irish people think that a men's health action plan is a good idea. That is why they have a number of key asks for the men's action plan from 2024 to 2028 and wish to see progress on that and for an additional €10 million to be invested, in tandem with the commissioning of a full cost analysis because we do not want to just waste money. They want an outreach approach to engage boys, men and carers in the community in adopting healthy lifestyles and self-management. In that respect, one thing the report did not mention, but which is hugely important, is the increasing toxification on social media. We have had different discussions on that.”
“It is also worth pointing out that deprivation gives someone five years less life compared to someone in a more affluent area. While men are 40% more likely to die prematurely than women, the rate is 46% for men in deprived areas. These are the stark consequences that we need to look at. They are nearly 1.5 times more likely to die prematurely because of deprivation. Other speakers referred to the supports needed by GPs and the difficulty of engaging with males aged under 17 and marginalised males from ethnic minorities, members of the Traveller community, those who are LBTQI+ and members of the farming community. It is worth referencing that we need an updated study for members of the Traveller community because I think the last survey was done in 2008.”
“I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate. In some ways, there will be a certain amount of repetition because we have all been asked by the Movember movement to reference its report titled, "The Real Face of Men's Health", and its key findings and recommendations. If there is repetition, it is no harm because it is sending a message. I will repeat that men are dying prematurely in Ireland and that the figure is 40% higher than the rate for females. This is something that has happened over a long period of time. We need to recognise that men's health is a specific issue. I am not in any way denigrating issues relating to women. I have to note that. However, men's health has been the poor relation in terms of discourse. All five leading causes of death are substantially higher among men than women.”
“Future turnouts will show, as they did in the past, what the level of interest is in the Presidency and what the level of spoiled votes will be. It would be educational if we were to have this debate again one week from now.”
“To be honest, one local authority should be able to make a nomination for whatever reasons, on the basis of a majority vote or a two thirds majority vote. It makes a lot of sense. In the remaining minute, I want to talk about the broader issue and address why we need to have more variety. Obviously, we have had different presidential elections over the years - I am not referencing any one presidential election - but in some cases there have been claims that the number of candidates running limits the voice of the people and the ability to have their voice heard. Even if it is for a candidate who may not ultimately get across the threshold, they want that person to be able to articulate their vision of what Ireland should be, conveyed through the Presidency. They are absolutely right.”
“There are some nefarious individuals whom I do not think should be let run a sweet shop, let alone be President, but ultimately the voters have to decide, and there needs to be a threshold. I note that People Before Profit has suggested 35,000 signatures. I am not caught up on signatures. It could be 100,000 or it could be less, but we need to work out the mechanisms of how we validate that. Would it be with PPS numbers and people having to publicly declare that they want a person to run so that there is absolute transparency? I definitely think there should be a direct democracy input as well so that the general public can nominate people directly. I also believe that in terms of local authorities, three is a better number than four, which is the situation as it stands.”
“Obviously the voters of Ireland said a couple of years back - I think it was 2015 - that they do not believe a person under the age of 35 should be able to run for President. That needs to be revisited in any referendum that we put to the people, as would another constitutional recommendation about lowering the voting age to 16, maybe starting off with presidential elections. I wholeheartedly support the proposal that 100 or 110 members of local authorities should be able to nominate someone to run for President, as should a lower number of Oireachtas Members - 14 is a good suggestion. I am someone who tried to facilitate someone in that process. Regardless of whether I would vote for the person, we need to make it easier. Obviously, there has to be a threshold.”
“We would have to set up a copper-fastened, ring-fenced voting system through postal votes, with some form of identification in one envelope and the ballot in a second envelope. The mechanisms need to be worked out but I absolutely believe it can and should be done. We have so many citizens around the world who want to have their input and the presidential election is an ideal opportunity for them to do so, as it would be for the Irish citizens in Northern Ireland. I would add that if we get to have a constitutional referendum on that issue, it should include Seanad reform providing that Senators be directly elected by the diaspora. We have not grasped that bull by the horns for some time. On the wider issue, as per the motion today, we need to make it easier for someone to run for the Presidency.”
“I welcome this debate on expanding the geographical area covered by the presidential election and amending the requirements to run for President to make it easier to do so. To start with the issue of the diaspora, we know the constitutional convention was not limited to the Northern Irish state but also dealt with the diaspora around the world. Unfortunately, whether we like it or not, our Irish citizens in Northern Ireland are in another jurisdiction, so they would have to be treated as the diaspora for the purposes of any election. We could not just go into Northern Ireland and start setting up polling stations. I do not think the British Government would facilitate that.”
“Perhaps we need a more blended model. There could be the option of towels but from an efficiency point of view, dryers are a more cost-effective option in the longer term. I hope a review could examine this, especially at second level.”
“We saw that in the Clonburris SDZ, where we trying to build up apartments in order to leave space for one full-size GAA pitch, one rugby pitch and two soccer pitches. There is a model in Adamstown, where a community building was provided separately as a sports hall for Adamstown Community College, which is then used as a sports hall by the community at night time. I would love to see more of that. I note the response in relation to primary schools and how electric dryers would not be considered the most effective means of hand-drying because young children will not spend sufficient time at the unit to ensure the removal of bacteria. That makes logical sense and I thank the Department for that response. However, in second level schools there should be a better level of hygiene awareness among the students.”
“I thank the Minister of State. In relation to the situation at Citywest, I thank him for his comments. I want to add that residents who may have been in fear because of some incidents of antisocial behaviour in the community by a very small minority of residents at the IPAS centre are now in fear of rioters. Property was damaged tonight. Implements were taken out of people's gardens and used as weapons against gardaí. I thank the Minister of State for sharing my condemnation. On the response to this Topical Issue, I would like to see more from the Department in terms of multi-use design. Often, the size of the pitches provided is not sufficient in the context of community provision.”
“This is to reiterate I have continued to support the residents in their genuine concerns. I wanted to put this on record because of what happened tonight. It was appalling. I ask the Minister of State to refer to the issue at hand on the policy regarding multiuse school buildings and hand dryers.”
“I am with them 100%. There was a so-called peaceful protest organised tonight, which I am sure many of the locals thought was going to be peaceful. It turned into stones been thrown at gardaí, horses being ridden at gardaí, fireworks being shot at gardaí and the barriers being thrown at gardaí. Full credit is due to the members of An Garda Síochána for trying to keep the peace. The people purporting to be there in solidarity with the poor girl who was subject to the horrendous attack I referenced earlier today had no thoughts whatsoever for the many young children in the Citywest Hotel complex, who would have been scared for their lives with what went on. Anyone who is using an alleged but atrocious attack on a young child to further a hateful agenda needs to be condemned absolutely.”
“I know there have been suggestions that when machines are used in a high turnover environment, there is more risk of airborne infection but I would be grateful for a reply. Given that we are talking about the Rathcoole and Saggart area - this is not for the Minister of State to comment on unless he so wishes but it is past midnight and I hope things have quietened down - I want to put on record my absolute disgust at what took place in Citywest tonight. I have been raising issues on behalf of residents who have genuine concerns about the purchase by the State of the Citywest Hotel complex and its long-term use, the lack of security, the lack of Garda numbers in the community, reports of people hanging around smoking and taking drugs in the vicinity of schools and all of the genuine concerns that ordinary decent residents have expressed.”
“This relates to some of the design criteria with regard to their long-term cost savings and environmental benefits. The reply stated that the project brief for the major project at Holy Family Community School was to demolish the school and construct a three-storey 1,000 pupil building with a special educational needs unit and a PE hall. The Department's school design guide SDG 02-06 Sanitary Facilities states that the provision for hand-drying facilities shall be paper towels or cotton or linen towels and that electric hand dryers are not permitted. It states that the sanitary facilities should have adequate space for disposable hand towel dispensers and a refuse bin for the disposal of paper towels. I would like to know why, given the environmental benefits of hand driers.”
“I have tabled this question as I have long been an advocate of multiuse school buildings. I want to get an update from the Minister on a response I received from the Department on how to repurpose the design of buildings so they can be used in a safe way so we can educate schoolchildren and have a creche on one side, a meeting room for community events later and enough space for full-sized pitches that can be used during the day for organisations such as Cumann na mBunscoil and at night by the community. That is one aspect of the issue I raised. Specifically, as I received a query from Holy Family Community School in Rathcoole, I submitted a parliamentary question asking the Minister for Education and Youth the reason hand dryers were not installed in the school.”
“However, you will not get anywhere near those economic benefits unless you bring people together. That means that we in the South who will have the majority, whether we call ourselves a Catholic or a secular country or something in between - a lot of people are cultural Catholics - will have to be bigger, for want of a better term, and even that might seem patronising. We have to say the flag is up there, the anthem is up there, the type of island is up there and the closer links with Britain are up there. Maybe then the unionists will come along. We have to bring them with us.”
“We are not going back to the zero-sum politics of saying that anyone who came here 400 years ago should be sent back to Scotland or England. They are there. They are Irish in their own way, they are also British in their own way and that has to be respected. In any type of discussion about a united Ireland, we have to become a little bit more British ourselves, unfortunately. There are arguments from the South where I have heard some people say that they would not want to increase the cost of living to bring those Nordies with us. There is that mentality you have to bring forward. For me, my love of my country is such, just like others here, that I will gladly fork out whatever it takes to have a united Ireland. It is worth it and there are economic benefits down the line as we have seen in study after study.”
“We are talking about Éire nua i ndáiríre. It has to be a new island, a new Ireland. When we are planning, we may as well ask the unionists, a very significant future minority - not to mention those who would consider themselves Northern Irish without considering themselves fully southern Irish - what it would take for them to consider being part of an all-Ireland decision-making body. Is it going to be a federal system? As others have said, are we going to have to change our flag? We love our flag. We talk about how it unites the unionists and republicans, how it is Catholics, Protestants and Dissenters, and sure, can you not understand why the flag is a flag for everyone. They do not see it that way.”
“Ar an gcéad dul síos, ba mhaith liom a rá gur poblachtánach mé, cosúil le gach duine eile anseo. Ach deir roinnt daoine gur féidir linn a bheith réalaíoch freisin. Mar sin, ba mhaith liom Éire aontaithe a fheiceáil a luaithe agus is féidir linn ach ní féidir é seo a dhéanamh gan cúpla rud - toil na gceardchumann, mar shampla. We only have four minutes each to speak on this and we cannot say a lot. First, I thank Sinn Féin for putting this motion down. I agree that we need to plan for a united Ireland if we are to ever get there. As others have said, it cannot be a perfect unity but, at the same time, it has to be a united unity. By that, we mean not having a zero-sum game so that when we get to 50% plus one, all of a sudden it is said, "You have the majority lads, come on in and join us and we will throw you a few scraps, lads".”
“If people cannot charge their EVs at a domestic rate, any kind of continuation of an EV VAT relief is not going to help in any way, shape or form. I again welcome the 9% VAT rate extended for gas and electricity but am ambivalent about the 9% rate for the hospitality sector because it is hitting the bigger companies as well. It is much too beneficial. I thought the supports for businesses, such as the power-up grants, could have been more targeted, expanded and helped all those businesses in the same way while leaving Ronald McDonald out of the equation.”
“In areas like software localisation, in particular, we need to tell companies that if they want to bring in people from outside to work, they must do it on our terms and in areas where there is more scope for housing stock to be released. I also want to support the amendment of the section and the residential development stamp duty refund scheme. Again, I give credit where credit is due. There are a number of other measures I mentioned before. The EVs makes a lot of sense. While I note there is an investment coming for the charging infrastructure, it is simply not sufficient in terms of the main thoroughfares. We are still doing nothing for people in housing estates where they should be able to put a cable under the footpath out onto the public road and charge it at a domestic rate.”
“There is a lot of property stock there that could be regenerated. I said earlier in the year that if those on a housing list in any of the four local authorities in Dublin go down the country, they lose their place on the list. If a person could go to a rural town for three to five years and go back on the Dublin list if they did not like it, we might get a few more takers. It is definitely worth looking at. While we are on the subject of rural areas, I will mention the policy of trying to encourage software companies to spread around the country, which they are resisting. As a result, all the high earners are in Dublin and it is pushing up the prices for the people who grew up there and those on the affordable housing scheme.”
“The tax deduction of 125% for certain apartment construction costs the Minister is introducing to help address viability challenges makes more sense, subject to the cap of €50,000 per apartment. We do not know whether it is going to hit the cost savings of up to €6,250 per unit but it does make a lot more sense than the VAT on the sale of apartments. The fact that it is going up to December 2030 with the relief claimable upon completion, we will see in the round whether that has been any kind of help in pushing prices down. Another measure I am supportive of, which has been mentioned in the media in terms of lack of take-up, is the living city initiative. It needs to be expanded or turned into something else for the over-the-shop units in rural towns and villages where post offices are closing and banks are moving out.”
“It has been estimated that up to 300,000 households could fall into arrears without the reliefs continuing. As various groups have mentioned, the budget does not adequately address child poverty issues or supports for persons with disabilities. Where would the Minister have got that money? The €250 million in VAT on the sale of apartments would have made a little bit of a dent. I have said it previously and will say it again that I do not think this is going to reduce the price of apartments. The fact that it is coming in for ones that have already started is ludicrous. That said, the enhanced corporation tax deduction for apartment construction expenses makes a little bit of sense. I am trying to take a balanced approach to this.”
“We are waiting to see whether Deputy Fitzmaurice comes in or whether we can use his time allocated in our slot. My colleague tells me we can use the time. Deputy Lawless got to use some of it and I will use some as well, with the permission of the Acting Chair. This is another chance to talk about the budget overall, although we are looking at the specific measures in the Bill itself. I support the calls by the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council, as I have before, that we need to start tightening up a little bit because we cannot be too dependent on corporate tax receipts. This was done in the context of a giveaway budget last year, so the contrast is quite huge. Even within that overall framework, there was scope to help those with cost-of-living issues.”
“When will it be put on a statutory footing so it can be empowered to carry out truly independent reports? Too many children are coming to harm under Tusla's care, and last year, Tusla referred 19 deaths of children to the review panel.”
“Like others, my thoughts are with the young girl who was the victim of an alleged sexual assault in Saggart last night and her family. While there are issues regarding security around IPAS centres and asylum policy in general - issues I will continue to follow up on - we must, of course, let the gardaí take their investigation through the process. However, there are also questions for Tusla. I note the Taoiseach stated that the national review panel would investigate the circumstances surrounding the child absconding under Tusla care before the attack. However, the special rapporteur on child protection recently suggested that this panel was not operationally independent of Tusla, had no legislative authority to produce reports and lacked transparency.”
“The current system may require apprentices, depending on the types of apprenticeships and location, to go for weeks of off-the-job training far away, which is quite impractical for people who do not have a car, given the state of our public transport system. It is fine if you live in an urban area and are going to another urban area on a main route, but we need to look at how we can localise the training options to reduce the costs for apprentices and the related stress that creates for them and their families. That is something we should look at. The overall package is welcome but we need to specify and show an increase in Government funding for apprenticeships so that we can support this sector and be ultra-competitive in the changing work environment.”
“I know we are at the level of full employment in some sectors but the problem is that key sectors do not have enough employees. If we import them, and a great contribution is made by those coming into the country, it puts pressure on housing. I previously mentioned software, for example, where there was localisation but the software companies wanted to locate in Dublin, which puts pressure on a very competitive area rather than it being spread around the country. Meanwhile, although we have great nurses coming in from abroad into our healthcare sector, Irish nurses are going to Australia and spending two years there, and some of them come back but many do not. We need to invest in those types of sectors, as well as the dental sector, which I mentioned earlier. Another area is the need for more flexible, off-the-job training.”
“This may be a basic point, but the significant call that has been made over recent years has been for apprenticeships to be paid better, at least at a national living wage, because some of the current low pay is driving the dropout rate of more than 20%. I mentioned Germany, which has much broader sectoral range. We need to expand that. There are proposals in Ireland to expand apprenticeships beyond traditional trades. Childcare was mentioned earlier, and green energy is another one. Administration was mentioned in the context of Germany. We should further expand the hospitality sector and look at new areas. I am not just talking about Germany and Australia. There are other areas covered in other countries where we could definitely create new opportunities for Irish people.”
“It is within the EU and is a partner country and while I mentioned TAFE is something we should be looking at as an English-speaking country, Germany is also the benchmark. That is something I recommend we look at more and maybe through the committees we could focus more on the vocational training rather than on other forms. Administration is an area covered by Germany's apprenticeships as well as hospitality, as is childcare. The German system is more expansive than the Irish one and apprenticeships are a foundational part of its education system. What could we do in Ireland with apprenticeships?”
“It is very industry-aligned. I know we are heading that way in Ireland, but we do not have the same connections. The curriculum is matched with specific industry needs. It is akin to the difference between the leaving certificate and the UK system of A levels, with a smaller number of subjects and a greater focus. There is a need to respond to changes in the labour market. I mentioned that there are over 300 recognised apprenticeships in Germany, which covers a much larger array of trades and industries. It has buy-in from all the social partners, the trade unions and the employer organisations but they also have a great input into the content and quality of the training. Germany is seen as a benchmark.”
“That is due to a number of things, including a wider range of options, a deeply integrated dual system of school and workplace training, and a much larger number of recognised apprenticeships, with over 300, compared with Ireland, which has ten times less. Obviously it is a much bigger country and you get more choice when you have the population, but we need to expand the types of apprenticeship that we have in this country. I will look at that in a while. Germany seems to provide a better transition to employment that is aligned with industry needs. Historically, this was a key factor in Germany's economic success. Maybe it needs to look at re-energising it now, but certainly it still seems the best in class, because it has theoretical learning at a vocational school and practical hands-on training in a company.”
“An area that is close to my heart ever since I got to visit Australia some years back and look at its education system overall is the emphasis on vocational training. The Australian technical and further education, TAFE, system is different from the Irish one. It is much broader. It has stronger industry links and more targeted employment outcomes. That is not dissing the Irish system but it seems to be something we need to look at more as we look at improving our apprenticeship system. Within the EU, the German apprenticeship system is often considered to be the leader in the field. It has a track record of centuries.”