Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I suggest he discuss with his local office the possibility of transferring to a Tús or community employment scheme. We now have 7,000 people on Tús schemes. To qualify for a placement on a scheme, one must have been unemployed for one year. I have had the pleasure of meeting a range of people on Tús schemes and the local development networks have been very helpful in getting schemes off the ground in local communities. I regularly meet former construction workers who are delighted with their schemes. Their specific skills may not be in demand, but they get the opportunity to work on local projects such as looking after walls or general improvement works in towns. I hope local authorities will be able to develop satisfying projects which will allow participants to get involved in a network. An individual's skills may be suited to his or her local GAA club or other sports organisation. The sad fact is that we simply cannot provide employment opportunities for all of the people who worked so hard in construction.

We now allow claims for jobseeker's allowance to be suspended for eight weeks and are hoping to extend that period further with the Intreo offices. This means that a person who gets a job with a local builder for, perhaps, three weeks, will not lose his or her claim status when the work is over. It will not be necessary to start the process afresh. This reform has been very successful because there has been a pick-up in small scale extensions and improvement works.

We have set up an employers division because a considerable number of small builders have reported difficulties in finding people with the skills possessed by Deputy Brendan Ryan's constituent. One of my ambitions for the division is that we can start to focus on providing services for more than the larger employers. For example, we filled all of the temporary posts in the Passport Office in Balbriggan from the live register. Eishtec, an expanding Irish company based in Waterford, has recruited and filled most of its vacancies from the live register. It is important that employers inform us when they have vacancies in order that we can profile the people they need.

Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked about young people and the fact that we paid a lower rate to people aged under 25 years. We have discussed this issue previously. I am on record as supporting that change when it was introduced by the then Fianna Fáil Government. If the individuals concerned engage in training or education, they can earn significantly more money. My ambition is to ensure those aged 18 or 19 years never go on the live register because they will instead be able to access education or training.

That brings me to the subject of the youth guarantee which is to be implemented in 2014. We held an EPSCO meeting in Luxembourg last week and every country has been asked to present proposals by the end of the year for implementing the guarantee. Officials in my Department and, I hope, the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation are working hard on these proposals. We need to set out ambitious targets for every Department to offer opportunities to young people to take part in employment, education and training. The Department of Education and Skills is rolling out SOLAS and the education and training boards which will bring together the VECs and the old FÁS training centres.

It is really important for us that they produce relevant courses for our unemployed clients and customers that will give them the skills they need to get back to the labour market.