Mr. Ian Martin:

I will take a couple of points. If an employer wants to recruit somebody who is on the live register to work in an office, for example, there are many different schemes available, but employers do not know about those schemes. If the Department of Social Protection were to provide a list of the available schemes, people could apply for a job and indicate that they qualify under JobBridge or this or that scheme. That would make it much easier for the employer to make a decision on recruiting the employee, and the potential employee can say he or she wants the job and can qualify under X, Y or Z. The potential employee is giving the employer a reason to recruit him or her. That is the main thing we are trying to establish.

The Senator's suggestion on working for nothing for a day is a very good idea but I cannot imagine how it will work in real terms because of the five-day working week. Do we expect people to work on a Friday or Saturday for nothing? The spirit at the time of the Special Olympics some years ago was fantastic. Many employers are doing some corporate social responsibility, CSR, work through volunteering and giving something back. Compared to some years ago, employees want to hold on to their jobs and are willing to go that extra mile. I have found that in my business compared to what the position was previously.

The Senator also mentioned unemployment benefit. If somebody on the maximum unemployment benefit of €185 a week goes to work for somebody, he or she may be eligible to take up other schemes which are available, but people are not willing to work for an extra €50. It is not worthwhile getting out of bed for €50, and therefore there should be a proper incentive scheme in place.

I owned a lawn-mower business some years ago, and we would take people on for work experience. A young lad of 14 or 15 years of age would come in and get some training on motorbike engines, how to change the oil and so on. It was real work experience. Once a week the person from FÁS would come in to talk to the employee and ask us how we were getting on with him and whether he was learning something, and every week he had to learn an additional skill. A great deal of on-the-job work could be done because somebody returning to work can do a course but many people have never worked in an office environment and do not know how to turn on a computer or do various actions. As an employer I would not object to taking on people I knew would move on after three or four months. I would encourage them to go on, and if they were good at their work they might want to stay. My colleagues may wish to comment.