EDDIE CONLON,
A chara, - I write in relation to your report "Apprentices denied statutory entitlements" (The Irish Times, January 24th). This was based on a research report, of which I am the author, on the working conditions of construction apprentices.
The article reported that Mr Peter McCabe, a director of the Construction Industry Federation, said the "findings . . .only covered 2 per cent of the workforce". In doing this Mr McCabe is seeking to undermine the scientific basis of the report.
The report clearly sets out the methodology used to gather the survey data. The sample selected represented almost 5 per cent of the apprentices in the trades covered: plumbers, carpenters, plasterers, painters and bricklayers.
Rather than draw on a random sample for the whole population in these trades it was decided to use quota sampling to ensure all trades were represented in the sample and that a significant sample of apprentices in trades with small numbers were included in our final sample. This was important to allow cross-trade comparisons of the data.
A 5 per cent sample is by any measure statistically significant.
The fact that the data was collected in 1999 should not distract from the many deficiencies in the regulation of working conditions in the industry. From my extensive contact with apprentices I have no reason to believe that the situation has changed since we collected our data.
The report has been welcomed by the construction unions and the ICTU, which is committed to giving "urgent attention to the many valuable recommendations" contained within it. - Is mise,
EDDIE CONLON,
Lecturer in Social Science,
School of Construction,
Dublin Institute of Technology,
Bolton Street,
Dublin 1.