asked the Minister for Defence if, in the light of the waiting list of young people wishing to join the Defence Forces and the capacity of the forces to absorb and to provide them with effective training, he will now consider requesting that the Defence Forces be included among the beneficiaries of the youth employment levy.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Defence Forces Waiting List.
5.
The allocation of funds collected under the youth employment levy is the responsibility of the Minister for Labour in consultation with the Minister for Finance.
The utilisation of such funds to finance the normal activities of Government Departments would not be appropriate.
Does the Minister not agree that the Army have excellent training facilities and in view of the long waiting list could these facilities not be used in a better way? Will he give serious consideration to the suggestion in my question?
The Army have excellent training facilities and they are used in an excellent way to train excellent soldiers. However, those facilities per se would not be appropriate for use in a quasi-social context which the Deputy suggests. There have been a number of suggestions from various bodies as to how the facilities available in the Army might be utilised in some kind of scheme of youth training that would not be part of the normal activities of the Department of Defence or of the Defence Forces. These suggestions are under examination. I do not know if it will be possible to bring them to a satisfactory conclusion in the context of what the Deputy has said, but the matters are being examined.