§ 7. Mr. Fittasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much was spent on grants to employers for apprentice training in Northern Ireland in the financial year 1982–83.
§ Mr. Adam ButlerAs part of the Government's comprehensive support for training in Northern Ireland, in the last financial year a total of £6,445,769 was paid to employers for the training of apprentices.
§ Mr. FittDoes the hon. Gentleman agree that, given the plight facing young people in Northern Ireland, the sum that he has announced is a mere drop in the ocean and that much more help should be given to employers to take young people off the streets?
§ Mr. ButlerI do not agree with the hon. Gentleman. I remind him of the sums being spent on youth training in the Province. The youth training programme will cost about £53 million in the current year. That is evidence of the support that the Government are giving and a recognition of the importance of training our young people. It has been a considerable encouragement that the number of apprentices in training has risen in the past year.
§ Rev. Ian PaisleyHow do the figures that the hon. Gentleman has given compare with those in the previous financial year?
§ Mr. ButlerThe figure of £53 million for the youth training programme in the full year 1983–84 compares with about £45 million spent on the youth training programme, the youth opportunities programme and other such measures in 1982–83.
§ Mr. SoleyIf the hon. Gentleman thinks that sufficient money is going into the Province, perhaps he will tell us how much is being spent on paying unemployment benefit to young people.
§ Mr. ButlerThanks to the youth training programme, which applies to all unemployed 16 and 17-year-olds, to those who have jobs, but insufficient training facilities, and to those in education — we introduced the programme a year earlier in Northern Ireland—there are many fewer youngsters on the dole.