Labour market flexibility in the face of future skill shortages in the Irish ICT sector is not only a crucial driver for the continued expansion of this largely foreign owned Irish sector but is also a key ingredient in the indigenous supply of support services to sectors as varied as finance, retail, project management, internet trading, and logistics. The issue of supply of ICT skills is one that is pertinent throughout the entire labour force, from the unskilled and disadvantaged to the more highly skilled labour force participants. Thus suggestions for addressing any future skills shortages can be aimed towards a number of different skill levels, provided that the specific capabilities that are in demand are identified precisely and without substantial time lags. In light of this my paper focuses on one particular channel through which Irish responsiveness to future intermediate level ICT skill shortages could be improved: an expansion of the under- utilised Irish Apprenticeship system in order to incorporate ICT occupations. In theory Apprenticeships possess three features that set them apart from academic programmes: first, on-the-job training based on a national framework of agreed standards forms the core of the program , rather than being merely an unregulated work placement with the skills content varying from firm to firm; second, the young person has the opportunity to "earn and learn" - thereby overcoming the financial obstacle that often deny underprivileged youths the opportunity for further education; and third, the employee and the apprentice establish a direct link which provided the employer with the opportunity to dovetail the apprentice's training with the firm's own needs, while providing the apprentice with an invaluable opportunity to forge a permanent working relationship with the employer. While a number of EU countries ( such as Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, UK) have shown a renewed interest in the apprenticeship model, their implementation of it has varied somewhat. The German "Beruf" model is by far the most well institutionally complex, highly regulated, and successful of EU member states' apprenticeship systems, with 587,000 youths entering into German apprenticeships in 1997 alone. The German approach views apprenticeships as being compatible with , rather than an alternative to, tertiary education The Irish apprenticeship experience is much like that of the UK: despite the heavily craft-orientated apprenticeship tradition featuring significantly in both labour markets until the 1960's it went into decline in the 1970s and 1980s, only to find favour again in the 1990s. This apprenticeship revival in Ireland over the last seven years has seen apprentice enrolment increase dramatically, from 7,151 participants in 1998 to 17,179 in 2003. However, the ambit of apprenticeships has remained that of manual crafts This is suprising in the context of the much lauded Irish "Celtic Tiger" where the spectre of labour supply shortages has heightened the need to exploit alternative channels to the labour market, such as immigration and apprenticeships. The persistent nature of youth employment rates despite such economic successes, also calls for concerted efforts to entice those on the margins of society to play an active role in the Irish labour force. Expanding the Irish Apprenticeship system is made all the easier by the country's existing social partnership tendencies, as well as existing statutory regulations safeguarding existing craft apprenticeships. Furthermore, an expanded apprenticeship system can capture the successes of the existing Irish vocational education and training system, which has a comprehensive range of free specific skills training courses. It is at this juncture that the Irish ICT industry emerges as the prime example of where apprenticeships can build on the established skills courses. These courses, which include IT courses from beginner to advanced and lasting 24-40 weeks in duration, already have an organised teaching structure and conclude with a one module work placement (indicating that company links are already established). The substantial intermediate skill-level labour requirements of the ICT industry, as well as its hands-on nature and applicability to a broad range of services sector makes it the ideal candidate for an apprenticeship overhaul. It is time to set this training in an "earning and learning" workplace environment and on a sound, streamlined national framework, in order to inject flexibility to the labour market response to skills shortages As discussed in my paper, there are unfortunately a number of disincentives for Irish policy makers to expand the Apprenticeship model. One is its relatively prohibitive annual costs when compared to specific skills courses - in 2003 apprenticeship programme costs came to €87,863,000 with 17,179 apprentices while skills courses accounted for 15,225 participants and cost €54,215,000. This is quite puzzling in light of the employer contribution to meeting apprenticeship wages. A further consideration is that of Ireland's status as a Foreign Direct Investment "darling". Apprenticeship costs and responsibilities may be deemed unappealing by potential investors and ultimately impinge upon our attractiveness to foreign owned firms.