Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

In regard to Deputy Brendan Ryan's question about the unemployed bricklayer, approximately 100,000 unemployed persons were formerly involved in construction related activity. The unemployment statistics indicate these individuals are mostly men who worked hard in construction jobs and made good money when times were good. It is a major challenge to find them satisfying and interesting work to which they can relate. There are several builders in my own family and they want to work in construction. However, that trade has fallen on hard times. If individuals in their 30s or 40s are offered courses they do not consider appropriate, do we accept that they should remain locked out of work until the construction industry picks up again? Such individuals could instead become excellent contributors to community employment schemes if given the opportunity to put something back into the community. I hope the local authority social employment services schemes that we will launch this year will be attractive to these individuals. Having put them back on that track, they may ultimately find employment. They might not work at technical bricklaying, but they would be able to use their skills to make a contribution in an area of interest.