Students are being urged to consider apprenticeships as a career choice, as they prepare to sit their exams this week.
The government is today announcing €7.5m in funding to support apprenticeship programmes across the country.
Take-up has been increasing in recent years, although women are still failing to find schemes accessible or appealing.
"Apprenticeships are no longer just confined to construction and trades as they traditionally have been," said ICTU general secretary Patricia King
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"There have been at least 19 new apprenticeships rolled out ranging from the insurance industry, banking and finance right across to (the) hospitality sector and so on," she added.
