APPRENTICES AND TRAINEES

The Hon. I.F. EVANS (Davenport) (14:17): Supplementary question, Madam Speaker. Can the minister confirm that, when the students complete the pre-apprentice training programs that the minister has just referred to, they cannot get funded by the Construction Industry Training Board to do an apprenticeship because the minister has not signed the funding training plan? So, they can do a pre-apprenticeship program; they just cannot get funded to do an apprenticeship?

The SPEAKER: I will consider that as another question. Minister.

The Hon. T.R. KENYON (Newland—Minister for Employment, Higher Education and Skills, Minister for Science and Information Economy, Minister for Recreation and Sport) (14:18): We are still obviously negotiating with the CITB. I will be meeting with them tomorrow—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. T.R. KENYON: —but the CITB is not the only source of funding for apprenticeships. It is not the only source of apprenticeships. There are apprenticeships right across the economy by either individual employers or group training organisations—

The Hon. I.F. Evans interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. T.R. KENYON: —who, if they are not in the construction industry, do not receive funding from the CITB, because that is what it is for. So, there are plenty of apprenticeships out there and, if they are in the construction industry, they do not necessarily release funding. They do not necessarily release funding from the CITB either. So, there are plenty of opportunities for apprenticeships, and I will negotiate very smoothly, or maybe not smoothly but certainly quickly and expeditiously, with the CITB to reach an outcome. I will be meeting with them tomorrow.