Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 November 2013
335. Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin asked the Minister for Social Protection the way the implementation of the youth guarantee is to be evaluated here; the person who will evaluate the guarantee; the framework that will be used; the best practice in this area; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50251/13]
View answer337. Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin asked the Minister for Social Protection the desired outcomes for the youth guarantee; the way results will be measured; the tracking mechanisms that will be put in place to monitor young persons on the guarantee and after they complete the guarantee; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50253/13]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 335 and 337 together.
While plans are not yet finalised, it is expected that interactions with young unemployed people engaged in an activation process under the youth guarantee will be tracked using the existing tracking systems used in INTREO more generally. Improved systems are also being put in place in my Department to use administrative data to monitor subsequent outcomes for people who have undertaken relevant education, training, and work-experience programmes. These improved data will provide the basis for more systematic programme-level evaluations. As to the best practice in this regard, methods will vary from the use of randomised control groups to qualitative research, depending on the nature of the programme being evaluated.
More generally, the series of actions taken for the Youth Guarantee in Ireland will be best judged in terms of their impact on youth unemployment and in particular on long-term youth unemployment. Significant reductions in these measures will be the key outcomes of the Youth Guarantee.
The full range of youth guarantees indicators to be used at EU level is currently under discussion between the Commission and the Member States. Once agreed, these will be included in the multi-lateral surveillance processes of the Union, in line with the Youth Guarantee Recommendation, which recommends that the European Commission should:
monitor the implementation of Youth Guarantee schemes pursuant to this Recommendation through the multi-lateral surveillance of the Employment Committee within the framework of the European Semester, and analyse the impact of the policies in place, and address, where appropriate, country-specific recommendations to Member States, on the basis of the guidelines for the employment policies of the Member States.
Specific frameworks & mechanisms concerning the evaluation and monitoring of the Youth Guarantee have not yet been decided but will be set out in the implementation plan which will be submitted to the European Commission at the end of the year. Where external persons or bodies are to be involved in evaluation, they will be selected through the normal public sector procurement processes for such work.
