Kathryn Reilly (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the National Youth Council of Ireland to the committee. I wish to ask a number of questions, some of which follow on from the questions already mentioned.

The UCC study was released at the weekend. It shows that 60% of the emigrants have a third level qualification and 47% of them were in employment prior to leaving. I am very cognisant that even though we are in the middle of a recession, there has been an increase in low wage casual employment and a casualisation of the labour market. There has also been an increase in under-employment given that it now accounts for one third of part-time workers. When the NYCI conducted its research did participants mention the kind of work that they did in Ireland before they left? I do not want a message to leave the committee that these young emigrants just decided to go to Australia, for example, even though they had a good job. We do not want to paint the wrong picture and return to emigration being thought of as a lifestyle choice. I would like to hear the council's comments on the matter.

I shall return to the third level qualification issue. Ms McAleer mentioned the Dr. Mary Gilmartin study on the shortage of workers with appropriate skills and mismatched education with the labour market. Has the education system been designed to give people the necessary skills? What do we need from the education system? What is the role of the youth guarantee in education?

A comment was made that the strategy to incentivise people to return, hinges on public employment services. That is true for the youth guarantee and for the people who are here already that remain in terms of the live register. What role does the NYCI see for the youth guarantee in terms of skills here and incentivising people to return? Is there another strategy to incentivise people to return?

The live register will show gains due to increased emigration and there will be a decreased expenditure on jobseeker's allowance but these are short-term gains. Emigration costs and causes many long-term problems. Can the NYCI identify the main problems caused by emigration?