John Connor
Ceist:10 Mr. Connor asked the Minister for Labour if he will outline the steps, if any, he intends to take to deal with the problem of youth unemployment; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Ceisteanna — Questions. Oral Answers. - Youth Unemployment.
Youth unemployment must be viewed in the context of unemployment generally. The Deputy will be aware of the various measures adopted by Government to tackle unemployment.
In so far as the Minister's area of responsibility is concerned, FÁS provided opportunities in 1991 for around 23,000 people under 25 years of age and a similar number will be catered for in 1992. The vast majority of these people participated in training programmes such as apprenticeship, skills foundation, the community youth training programme and Youthreach. Approximately 2,300 participated on Teamwork, which provides work experience opportunities for young people on projects of benefit to the local community. In addition, CERT provides training for school leavers and unemployed persons interested in employment in the hotel, catering and tourism industry generally. Approximately 3,600 people under 25 years of age will be trained by CERT in 1992.
The new employment subsidy scheme and job training scheme will provide opportunities for unemployed people both under and over 25 years of age who have been on the live register for at least eight weeks. The overall target for the schemes is 25,000. Significant vocational training opportunities for young people are also provided within the education system and by Teagasc.
Is the Minister not aware that many of the schemes he has listed are not successful in getting to the root of the unemployment problem? Many of these schemes are merely stop-go measures which fill in for a while. The Minister referred to the Teamwork scheme. If the Department of Labour consider this scheme so important in tackling unemployment why is it intended to abolish it? Is it intended to expand the number of places made available by CERT, who cannot cope with the number of applications they have on hands at present?
I detect a certain logic in the Deputy's approach. I agree with her that the most important single factor in dealing with unemployment is training and education. The schemes to which I referred during the course of my reply give skills and educational advantage to the people for whom they are provided. I would reject the suggestion that there is a stop-go aspect to those schemes.
I agree with the Minister that training is very important but I want to know why it has been decided to abolish the Teamwork scheme. Why are extra places not being provided on CERT courses? In future young people will not be able to get places on these courses.
From my time as Minister for Tourism, Transport and Communications I know that the CERT programmes have been very successful and jobs were available. At times there were not enough people to fill the jobs, particularly during the peak tourist season. With regard to Youthreach, I will send the Deputy some further information on this scheme.