I propose to take Questions Nos. 3 and 4 together.
There is no question of the Government trading off the objective of attainment of equality for women in employment against the need to provide employment for young males or any other socially disadvantaged group. I have already presented to this House in recent weeks an Employment Equality Bill which maintains a strong focus on prohibiting discrimination in employment based on sex. While the Bill also seeks to prohibit discrimination in employment on grounds of age and other non gender characteristics. it does not provide exclusions from the commitment to prohibit discrimination based on sex to provide employment for young males, or any other socially disadvantaged groups.
The Bill prohibits discrimination in employment against young males on equal terms with its protection of young females. Existing employment equality legislation in Ireland and Europe has already been successfully applied to protect men from discrimination in employment as well as women.
The particular phenomenon of young, unqualified males failing to gain access to the labour force to an extent reflects the higher achievement of young women in education. The 1995 ESRI annual survey of school leavers shows that some 64 per cent of school leavers with no qualifications or minimum qualifications were boys. Both the Department of Education and the Department of Enterprise and Employment are tackling this problem through the Government's Youthreach programme. I understand the Department of Education has increased its capacity under this programme from 600 places in 1989 to 2,000 places today and a further 450 places are planned. FÁS also provides 1,800 places on Youthreach and in addition provides other developmental training places geared to the needs of young unqualified persons.
I endorse these necessary actions aimed at improving both the educational qualifications and labour market potential of young people. The initiatives do not, however, dissipate the thrust of actions aimed at the broader sex inequalities of the market place which the Employment Equality Bill is intended to address and which continue to receive attention by the education and training authorities.