Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 26 September 2012
85. Deputy Michael Conaghan asked the Minister for Social Protection the progress being made in response to the call from European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso to create an action team and develop a strategy to tackle Youth Unemployment. [40739/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraIn response to the proposals made by President Barroso, action teams composed of national and Commission officials were set up in a number of Member states to re-orientate existing EU structural funding towards youth employment initiatives. As a direct result of the work of the action team for Ireland, €25 million of funding was re-allocated to the integrated Youthreach programme which provides education, training and work experience to young people who have left school early without any qualification or vocational training. This will ensure that 3,700 training places for early school leavers are maintained until end 2013. Another initiative arising directly from the Commission's proposals, has been the inclusion of youth unemployment as one of the four thematic themes eligible for funding under the €20m Labour Market Education & Training Fund (LMETF).
More generally, the Government’s primary strategy to tackle youth (and overall) unemployment is to create the environment for a strong economic recovery by promoting competitiveness and productivity. Economic recovery will underpin jobs growth. Past experience suggests that youth unemployment, which tends to rise relatively rapidly in a downturn, can be expected to fall relatively rapidly during the recovery.
In addition to promoting economic recovery, the Government recognises the need for interim measures to support the young unemployed and keep young jobseekers close to the labour market. The main initiative in this regard is Pathways to Work which is the main policy focus for getting the long-term unemployed (including those aged under 25) back into employment by providing job search assistance, work experience and training.
In terms of job search assistance, some 17,000 young people registered with Employment Services this year up until September 2012, representing 37% of all registrants. Registering with Employment Services gives job-seekers access to guidance interviews, job search assistance, and training courses, as well as self-service job-seeking options.
In terms of work experience, JobBridge (the National Internship Scheme), has seen 2,600 placements of young people aged under 25 during its first year of operation.
In addition, over 18,000 persons aged 25 and under completed a training course with FÁS in 2011 (excluding evening courses). Training allowances on eligible courses exceed what a young person would receive in jobseekers’ payments, providing an incentive to take up training programmes.
The European Commission is currently reviewing "youth guarantee" policies across the Member States with a view to making proposals for a European-wide approach. There is considerable variation among Member States with regards to the possible implementation of any such guarantee, in terms of the target groups covered and the extent and nature of the policy commitments made. My Department is also reviewing arrangements here in the light of these various approaches. The Commission’s proposals are expected to be published in December, and achieving political agreement on these proposals in the Council will be a major objective of Ireland’s Presidency in the first half of 2013.
