Vol. 419 No. 10
1 Mr. J. Higgins asked the Taoiseach if he will outline the number of meetings of the Central Review Committee of the Programme for Economic and Social Progress which have taken place since he became Taoiseach; whether the April figures for unemployment have been addressed or discussed by the committee; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Apart from the meeting on 28 February 1992, which I and relevent Ministers had with the Central Review Committee and on which I reported to the House in reply to a question from Deputy De Rossa on 10 March, the committee met on two occasions — 25 March and 28 April. The committee normally meet on a monthly basis.
The end-April live register figures which were published on 1 May have not been discussed by the Central Review Committee. The committee are scheduled to meet again on 3 June. Any public statement on the deliberations of the committee is a matter for the committee themselves.
Have the committee considered that additional problems are being created by the growing cycle of unemployment feeding on itself? First, a huge chunk of the unemployed population are unemployable by virtue of the fact that they have no skills and unemployment is so endemic in the family that nobody can remember a member of the previous generation being employed.
Second, there is the frightening prospect that unemployment is growing at such a rate that we are fast approaching a time when the taxpayer will not be able to foot the bill.
I certainly appreciate the points the Deputy is making, particularly in relation to the long term unemployed. A recent labour force survey shows that 50 per cent of the male unemployed have only primary school education and, as the Deputy rightly points out, the long term unemployed lack skills. Particular attention is being directed at the area of training schemes and we have introduced training and employment subsidy schemes. There is a growing interest in the employment subsidy scheme in respect of which approximately 6,000 companies have sought application forms. This gives some idea of the interest building up in the scheme.
I am sure the Deputy will agree with me that there is no instant solution to the escalating unemployment problem and I am sure he will also agree that there is no single initiative which can stop that increase and that it will take a combination of initiatives and policies, which the Government are working on at present, to stem this problem.
What approach is taken at meetings of the Central Review Committee? Do the committee members evaluate the individual elements of the Programme for Economic and Social Progress? The Taoiseach alluded to the apprenticeship scheme. Any independent body evaluating the apprenticeship scheme at present must acknowledge that it is in a total shambles because people cannot get apprenticeships. People who are sick, lame or blind have to wait for treatment because of the long waiting lists. The experience in the food and tourism industries, areas of huge potential growth, is nothing other than a tale of lost opportunities, Do the committee evaluate the success or failure of each individual sector?
While the proceedings of the committee are confidential to the committee themselves, although they publish reports from time to time, I can assure the Deputy that a special task force on tourism has been set up to seek out every opportunity in this sector. The Deputy should hear about the recommendations the committee make from time to time. The same applies in other areas as well. I will not go into detail on the proceedings of each meeting but the Deputy can be assured that the focus of the committee is on seeking out every possible opportunity for creating jobs.
Is the Taoiseach aware that approximately 5,000 young people leave school every year without a qualification of any kind and join those who have limited prospects of employment? What are the Government doing about this? Is the Taoiseach aware that a number of schemes for the unemployed require that a person be unemployed for a minimum of a year in order to qualify for assistance and the effect of having to remain unemployed for a year is frequently more damaging than the benefit derived from participating in a scheme for which he might subsequently qualify?
I, like the Deputy, recognise that problems exist and every possible initiative that can be taken will be taken. I recently announced an initiative in Tallaght where we established a pilot scheme setting up 12 areas based companies to operate in very severe unemployment black spots around the country. This is a test scheme to see if we can get people off the unemployment register and back into employment.
There is an established correlation between educational achievement and unployment. Consequently we are looking at ways and means of rectifying low educational attainments through adult education to other areas linked to education so that we can improve the lot of the group referred to by the Deputy.
The Taoiseach did not refer to my question about the period of unemployment before people are eligible to get on a scheme.
I am bringing this matter to finality. Deputy Farrelly may ask the final question.
Is the Taoiseach aware that many primary schools throughout the length and breadth of the country have sought to take on staff for short periods under some State schemes but were refused approval? Will the Taoiseach ensure that he or his Minister of State organise a meeting of the Central Review Committee to deal with this problem? I know of 15 such schools and the Minister of State from my constituency knows what I am talking about.
The Deputy can be assured that the Central Review Committee are looking at every possible opportunity and I will take up with them the matter to which he refers.
