Gerard P. Craughwell: Defends Apprentices, Slams Exploitation

I said to my two colleagues, Senator Cosgrove and Herman, there was a time when I thought Labour had lost their soul. I'm delighted to see that you have a soul, and I'm delighted to see that you're prepared to nail your colours to the master. And there's young people in the gallery today, and if ever you needed a reason to join a trade union, you're hearing it tonight. And you're hearing it because the animal instincts of capitalism are alive and well. You've heard the nonsense statements that have been made. No worker should ever work the same hours, do the same amount of work, for less money than their colleagues. I don't care whether you're working in a shop, in a hotel, on a building site. My colleague, the last speaker spoke about people getting up at 6 o'clock in the morning to get on to a dirty, cold building site for a few miserable euros per hour. And who's benefiting from it? The employer. The bottom line on it is, this is a wonderful bill, a short bill, there's not a whole lot to it, but it highlights the inequality that exists in our society. By the way, while you mention apprentices and interns, we miss out on the professions like the legal profession and the accounting profession who exploit young people who go into work. The exploitation of young people has been the vein of this country. It is wrong in every way. I'm aware of apprentices who had to buy cars in order to travel to the sites they were working on. They couldn't afford to have a car and a social life. It was one or the other in order to get themselves trained. Apprenticeship is a bit like religion. If you believe in it, you'll be rewarded in the next life. And that was the way it was. I started my working life as an apprentice. So I did. £1.50 a week. That was 59 years ago. Right? £1.50 a week. I got a better job as a barman. £2.50 a week. So I packed it in. Why would you bother picking up a qualification, a skill that would have left me wealthy for all of my life? I packed it in because I could get more money as a barman, which led to 16 different changes of career throughout my life. The last one being into Shannadirn. Thanks so much to Fine Gael for electing me on that day. The truth of the matter, Minister, I know somebody somewhere is pulling the string here and saying, you know, we're hearing all the things about legal advice and about in time. My first colleague and good friend from Galway said that this would be looked at in 2026. So why reject and oppose the bill? Why not just say we'll bring it back in 2026 with whatever amendments are needed? Why kill it tonight? Kill it in front of trade unionists and in front of young people, the future voters. And I would say to those voters, you see what the left think and you see what the capitalists think. Make up your own mind. I'm an independent. Always support good independence. We're very good. Interns. Some of you in this building will know that interns have come in here and worked for members of this house and got nothing for it. That is wrong in every sense of the word. I had a student when I was teaching in Black Rock and placed him in a company in Galway for his work experience. And at the end of three weeks, the employer turned to him and he said, thanks very much. I'll send a nice report back to your college. And the young fellow rang me and he said, I've been doing a lot of work for this guy. He said, and I see he's invoicing the work I'm doing. What do you think? And I said, well, what do you think? He said, I think I should be paid for it. And I said, well, go and tell him that. And the employer rang me and he said, that cheeky little so-and-so you sent to me has asked me to pay him. And he says, I was giving him work experience. I said, well, hang on a minute. Did it with computers he was working on? I said, did he repair the machines? He said, well, yeah. I said, did you invoice the people for the work he did? And he said, well, yeah. And I said, do you not think his labour was then worth money? And he said, well, actually, you're right. And he paid him. And immediately the course finished, he hired him. Right. And the guy and the employer got on very well together and had great work. That's respect for a worker. That is respect for a worker. I think Senator Cosgrove mentioned mum and dad funding your apprenticeship. I'm delighted to say I have two children and I never funded anything for them. Once they hit a certain age, they went out and they worked their way through lives and got their professions. They worked hard and I have no doubt they were exploited at the early stage of their careers. It is so, so wrong to reject this bill. And Minister, you have the power to stand up here tonight and say, you know what? I reject what the party is saying. I reject what the government is saying. I'm going to take my courage in my hands and I'm going to say to these two wonderful senators, I will defer further discussion on this bill until 2026 when we'll all come back here and have a wonderful get together and deliver for apprentices in this country. And you can go down the west this weekend heading towards Christmas and you can meet apprentices in the welcome in in Castle Bar and say, I stunt with you. You can do that. Or you can go down and say, two Labour guys tried to run the bill past me so you guys could actually have Christmas. Right. Bottom line on it is, we need to wake up and we need to deliver for young people. I would beg you, minister. Take your courage in your hand.