The general purpose of the Bill is to replace the Apprenticeship Act, 1931, with a measure which is designed to make better provision for the recruitment and training of apprentices.
The successful operation of any law dealing with apprenticeship depends to a large extent on the wholehearted cooperation of the parties mainly concerned—the employers and workers. It is, therefore, a source of satisfaction for me to be able to inform the Seanad that the Bill is, in large measure, an agreed one, After the Second Stage of the Bill had been passed by Dáil Éireann, a Joint Committee composed of representatives of workers' and employers' organisations examined the Bill in detail and made a number of agreed recommendations for amendments. Almost all of these recommendations were accepted and appropriate amendments were passed during the Committee and Report Stages in Dáil Éireann.
Consequently, the Bill now before this House represents, as far as possible, the united views of Government, employers and workers as to the best type of Bill to deal with this problem of apprenticeship. This is a most gratifying situation which reflects considerable credit on the representatives who participated so diligently in the work of the Joint Committee. It is, I hope, a happy augury of future cooperation when the Bill has been enacted.
I do not think that anyone will quarrel with the general aim of this Bill which is to provide a system of apprenticeship designed to ensure that sufficient numbers of suitable young persons are given an opportunity of entering the skilled trades; that they receive thorough training on the job and in the technical schools; and that their proficiency in the trade will be tested before they are certified as fully qualified craftsmen. We all know the existing apprenticeship schemes in some trades are fairly satisfactory. But this is not true of all, or even most, of our craft trades. The broad picture is that the recruiting and training of apprentices is dealt with either haphazardly or in a way that is prejudicial to the long-term interests of the trades themselves and of the community as a whole.
The Commission on Youth Unemployment examined this question some years ago and recommended that fresh legislation should be prepared to replace the 1931 Apprenticeship Act. That Act was based entirely on the principle of voluntary cooperation and no trade was brought within its scope except with the agreement of the trade itself. The results were disappointing. Only four trades—furniture making, house-painting and decorating, hairdressing and brush and broom making —agreed to the establishment of statutory apprenticeship schemes under the Act. The Youth Unemployment Commission recommended the establishment of a national apprenticeship authority, the setting up of statutory apprenticeship schemes for more trades, and the provision of more effective measures for the training, instruction and testing of apprentices. These recommendations are incorporated in the Bill now before the House.
It might be of assistance to Senators if I were to outline briefly the main provisions of the Bill. It is intended to apply mainly to the craft trades. Agriculture, dairying and horticulture, as well as professional and clerical occupations, are not included within the scope of the Bill. I think it will be accepted that it would be neither appropriate nor practicable to apply the types of apprenticeship schemes envisaged in the Bill to any of these occupations.
The outstanding feature of the Bill is the proposal to place the regulation of apprenticeship schemes in the hands of a central organisation to be known as An Cheard Chomhairle. An Chomhairle will be under the direction of a full time officer, the Director of Apprenticeship, who will be in a position vigorously to promote the principles and practice of sound apprenticeship. The ordinary members of An Chomhairle, of whom there will be thirteen, will serve in a voluntary part-time capacity. They will be representative of employers, workers and educational interests. The educational members will act in an advisory capacity.
The provisions of the Bill will not be applied automatically to all trades in which formal apprenticeship is the method by which future skilled workers are trained. An Chomhairle will have power to carry out an examination of the methods used in any trade for the recruitment and training of apprentices. Trades which operate satisfactory schemes will not be interfered with by An Chomhairle. Other trades will have an opportunity, in consultation with An Chomhairle, of putting their own houses in order and any trade which does so will be left outside the scope of the Bill.
It is my earnest hope that many trades will avail of this opportunity, because I am satisfied that the best apprenticeship schemes are those evolved as a result of close cooperation between responsible workers' and employers' organisations which recognise their duty to the community as a whole as well as to their own trades. We must, however, provide for the eventuality that certain trades may not be willing or able to remedy defects in their existing apprenticeship arrangements, and An Chomhairle is, therefore, empowered to designate a trade and bring the apprenticeship arrangements in that trade under statutory control where they find such action necessary.
There is, however, a provision enabling An Chomhairle to exclude from certain requirements of the Bill satisfactory schemes operated by individual employers or groups of employers within the designated trade. There is also provision for exemptions from rules to avoid hardship in individual cases.
Where a trade has been designated, An Chomhairle will set up an apprenticeship committee or, where necessary, a number of committees to control apprenticeship in that trade. Apprenticeship committees will, like An Chomhairle, include representatives of employers, workers and educational interests under an independent chairman, and the educational members will act in an advisory capacity. Where it does not prove possible, for one reason or another, to set up an apprenticeship committee, or where an established committee fails to do its job, An Chomhairle itself will be able to act as, or for, a committee for the particular trade and district involved.
An Chomhairle will make rules in respect of each designated trade laying down minimum educational qualifications and the minimum age of entry for apprentices, as well as rules regulating the circumstances in which an apprentice may be dismissed. The apprenticeship committee for the trade will maintain a register of candidates for apprenticeship and no person will be enrolled on the register unless he complies with the age and educational qualifications laid down by An Chomhairle.
The apprenticeship committee will also make rules about the period of apprenticeship and about the training to be imparted to apprentices by their employers. If, in the case of any particular trade, An Chomhairle considers it necessary that special advice or assistance should be provided to raise the standard of training, it will appoint supervisors for the purpose. If it is found that an employer is persistently neglecting to train his apprentices properly, arrangements can be made for the transfer of the apprentices to a more conscientious employer.
There is, furthermore, a provision by which the employment of each apprentice by a particular employer must be approved by the apprenticeship committee. The committee will, therefore, be in a position to ensure that an employer who has not the appropriate training facilities or who has shown himself to be incapable of imparting the necessary training, will not be permitted to take on apprentices.
It is intended that, in time, all apprentices will be required to attend courses of instruction in technical schools. If a boy is to reach a high standard of craftsmanship, attendance at a well defined course of technical instruction must form part of his training. The technical school cannot, of course, displace the workshop as the principal means of training, but it is an essential adjunct to training on the job. Where appropriate, employers will be required to allow apprentices time off, without loss of wages, to attend day-time courses of instruction.
Employers will also be expected to cooperate by making periodic progress reports to the apprenticeship committee on how the training of each apprentice is progressing. The apprentices themselves will have to keep records of the training they receive and each apprentice will have an opportunity of undergoing proficiency tests, one mid-way through his apprenticeship and the other on the completion of apprenticeship. Apprentices who have completed their training satisfactorily and who have passed the final examination will be given certificates by An Chomhairle. It is not the intention to confine employment in any trade to holders of the certificates, but it is hoped that, in time, possession of this certificate will come to be regarded as the hallmark of a good tradesman.
An Chomhairle will be empowered to award scholarships and other prizes to apprentices of outstanding merit and to send apprentices abroad to attend competitions and exhibitions. The expenses of these activities may be met in part by registration fees collected from apprentices. These fees will be of reasonable amount and there is provision for exemption in cases of hardship. These fees should not, of course, be confused with the rather substantial premiums which were formerly payable by apprentices in some trades. This practice of collecting premiums can be abused and committees are, therefore, being given the power to prohibit the taking of premiums.
A common complaint from employers is that they are unable to reap the full benefit of the time and expense which they devote to the training of an apprentice, since the apprentice is free to leave his employer for another employer on the completion of his apprenticeship. The Bill recognises this problem by providing for the making of direct monetary grants to employers who have trained apprentices in accordance with rules made under the Bill. An Chomhairle will recommend the trades in which such payments are considered to be appropriate, the emphasis being placed on craft trades which make a positive contribution to national productivity. The amount of the grants will be subject to the consent of the Ministers for Industry and Commerce and Finance; it is not proposed that they should be paid in respect of apprentices in State or semi-State organisations.
The question of the intake of apprentices is one which causes difficulty in many trades. There have been complaints that in some trades, the trade unions place undue restrictions on the number of apprentices entering the trades each year, thereby creating an acute and artificial shortage of skilled operatives. On the other hand, it is often argued on behalf of the trade unions that they must protect the interests of their members by ensuring that the intake of apprentices is such as will not lead to the employment of apprentices as a source of cheap labour or result in the deliberate creation of a pool of unemployed craftsmen. It will be the task of An Chomhairle and the apprenticeship committees to examine closely the arrangements in each trade and to strike a fair balance in each case.
The number of apprentices to be taken on in a designated trade within a particular district in any period will be determined by an apprenticeship committee, after consultation with An Chomhairle, and the committee will have power to require a particular employer to take on apprentices where it is satisfied that that employer has adequate training facilities and is failing without adequate cause to bear his share of the responsibility for training entrants to the trade.
It is not proposed to re-enact in this Bill the provisions of the 1931 Act which enabled apprenticeship committees to regulate the wages and conditions of employment of apprentices. These questions are, in my opinion, more appropriate for settlement by direct negotiation between employers and workers or their organisations, with the assistance of the Labour Court, where necessary. I should mention here that there is provision for the reconstitution under the new Bill of the apprenticeship committees relating to the four trades which were designated under the 1931 Act; when these committees have been reconstituted the 1931 Act will be repealed.
All rules made by apprenticeship committees will have to be confirmed by An Chomhairle before they attain the force of law. The Bill provides for inspection and enforcement by authorised officers, and for penalties for persons found guilty of breaches of the statutory rules. It will also be an offence for a person to prevent or obstruct an employer from complying with the rules.
The salary of the Chairman and of the staff of An Chomhairle will be borne on the Vote for the Department of Industry and Commerce. Other expenses will be met out of an annual grant to An Chomhairle. It is difficult to give at this stage any precise indication of the probable total cost of administering the Bill. In the first year or two, the cost might be of the order of £6,000 or £7,000, but according as An Chomhairle expands its activities the cost will naturally rise, particularly on account of the grants which it is proposed to make to employers who satisfactorily train their apprentices. The annual cost may eventually reach about £50,000 a year.
This, I think, summarises the main provisions of the Bill. The need to raise the level of efficiency and output in industry is well recognised to-day. In this highly competitive age, there is no place for the shoddy, poorly-finished product and if we are to make progress in winning essential overseas markets, the goods we produce must be well made and capable of being marketed at competitive prices. The provision of proper training facilities for young persons is an important prerequisite for the attainment of the standard of skill and efficiency at which we must aim.
This Bill is intended to provide the machinery to enable such training facilities to be made available. The successful operation of that machinery will depend on the voluntary co-operation of employers and workers as well as educational interests. The manner in which these interests have cooperated in the framing of the Bill leads me to believe that there is every expectation of continued cooperation in the administration of the measure and that a very substantial contribution will thus be made towards the establishment of sound apprenticeship schemes.