Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 9 July 2013
81. Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of young persons under 25 years of age who have received an offer of employment, continued education, an apprenticeship or a traineeship within a period of four months of becoming unemployed or leaving formal education since the youth guarantee scheme was announced; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33256/13]
View answerWhile the Recommendation for an EU-wide Youth Guarantee Scheme was adopted during the Irish Presidency, the implementation of the scheme across the EU has yet to begin. It is recognised, both in the Youth Guarantee Recommendation itself and more generally, that the pace of implementation must take account of the scale of the youth unemployment and inactivity challenge and consider the fiscal capacity of each Member State. At the same time, Member States should take all possible measures to ensure that the Recommendation is swiftly implemented. For our own part, the Government will now review the current range of youth employment policies in Ireland to assess what measures will need to be taken to commence the implementation of the Guarantee. It is intended to produce a concrete plan for the implementation of the Guarantee before the end of 2013.
The Government intends to work with all relevant stakeholders to maximise the impact of a Youth Guarantee in Ireland. The scale and nature of any additional measures required for the implementation of a Guarantee at national level will depend on the trend in youth unemployment, and in particular the number of young people likely to experience periods of unemployment of more than four months under current policies. Development of an implementation plan will include identification of the costs of implementation, and how it is envisaged that these will be met - how much can be provided from domestic sources, and what is the likely requirement from EU funds, e.g. ESF and YEI. The amount that would be required for Ireland will only become clear when the implementation plans are drawn up.
As part of the European Council agreement on the 2014 – 2020 EU Budget in February, it was decided, in association with the agreement on the Youth Guarantee, to provide €6 billion for a new Youth Employment Initiative (YEI) for regions with particularly high levels of youth unemployment. This funding will consist of €3 billion from the European Social Fund and an additional €3 billion from a new Youth Employment budget line.
Proposals supported by the Irish Presidency that payments of the Youth Employment Initiative be front-loaded and all monies provided for this purpose be used in 2014 and 2015 were approved by the European Council last month. In addition, the European Council President, Herman Van Rompuy intimated in the final days of the Irish Presidency that a further €2 billion may be available, arising from proposed changes to the EU’s Multiannual Finance Framework. The precise amount that will be available to Ireland from the EU funds is also as yet unclear. Until clarity is provided on this issue, the finalisation of any implementation plan will not be possible.
In terms of a starting point to implementation, we sought funding from the European Commission (€250,000) for a proposed pilot Youth Guarantee project in the Ballymun area. I am pleased to say that our submission was one of those approved by the commission for funding and I expect that the Ballymun project will commence later this year.
