asked the Minister for Local Government and Public Health if he is aware that a communication has been sent by his Department to the Clare County Board of Health relative to the apprenticing to trades of boarded-out children when they come to the age of fifteen years, in which it is urged that work would not be available for these children even if they should become competent tradesmen, and discouraging the project; if he thinks that the apprenticing of six children annually to a trade is likely to glut the skilled labour market, and if he will say how the increase in the number of unskilled workers is likely to increase the opportunity for that class of workmen to obtain work.
CEISTEANNA—QUESTIONS. ORAL ANSWERS. - APPRENTICESHIP OF BOARDED-OUT CHILDREN.
The answer is in the affirmative. The proposal was to apprentice all the children when they reached the age of fifteen years. Our experience goes to show that it is much wiser to deal with the children individually according to their physique and capacity. County Clare being almost exclusively agricultural, farming offers the best opportunity for employment, and children should be trained with a view to being absorbed eventually in the available employments.