Simon Harris: Ireland has been 'a bit too snobby or elitist' over apprenticeships

The Minister for Further and Higher Education has said Ireland got "a bit too snobby or elitist" over education as he outlined his plans for apprenticeships in the public sector.

In an interview with Hot Press magazine, Simon Harris spoke about the importance of apprenticeships and revealed his thoughts on the student accommodation "emergency".

Last month Mr Harris announced nine new apprenticeship programmes in a bid to double the number of public service apprentices by 2025.

"This is about allowing students – which is what an apprentice is – access to the public sector workforce,” Mr Harris told Hot Press.

"I want every Government department, every county council, every State agency taking on apprentices. It used to be this way in Ireland. It used to be the way that you could become a carpenter or a plumber or an electrician or an accounts technician".

He added: "It’s like the country got nearly a bit too snobby or elitist when it came to education. It all became about going from school to university, and not actually recognising that there’s a great alternative path for lots of people... But also that there’s people who want to learn and earn at the same time."

The planned apprenticeship programmes in the public sector include: digital marketing and media; executive officer generalist; planning technician; healthcare assistant; architectural technician; civil technician; junior investigator in the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission; and a paramedic programme in the health service.

Last year, there were 373 apprentices registered with public service employers such as the civil service, the Defence Forces and local authorities, an increase of 103 on the 2021 registrations.

Asked about the student accommodation crisis, the Fine Gael Minister said there was an urgent need to provide more housing options for students.

“Just to be really, really clear, it is an emergency,” he told Hot Press. "If you don’t have a home, if you can’t move out of the box room in your parents’ house, or your childhood bedroom, that is an emergency. But we have to come at it from all angles."

He said the Government plans to co-fund student housing that will be operated by colleges, and which will include accommodation at below-market rates.

"The approach is that we’re putting in some of the money,” he said, "and the colleges are putting in money too – but in return for our commitment, they have to agree that a certain amount of the accommodation will be ring-fenced in terms of being provided below market rates."