Kathryn Reilly (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The questions I have are based on discussions I have had with young people at different conferences I have attended. Many of the questions are geared towards the Department. In terms of the youth guarantee and young people not in employment, education or training, how we will get a real sense of the number of young people who are in that situation who might traditionally be beyond the reach of employment services or who might not have been eligible for jobseeker's allowance or any of those schemes? How will we get to the starting base to know the reality of what we are dealing with rather than just looking at the live register?

Mr. Doorley mentioned churning. How will we avoid churning? If we put people through a scheme, how will we prevent them going back to square 1 once they finish their placement? We do not want to move people from scheme to scheme. How will we make sure they are in a sustainable position? How will we track these people? The National Youth Council of Ireland had a conference on the youth guarantee and a representative from the Finnish national youth council said that of those who completed the guarantee in Finland, 39% had disappeared from the statistics and that they do not know what they are doing.

I refer to conditionality and the concerns raised about that. Will sanctions be imposed on people who do not take up a particular position? I mention the dangers that might surround an obligatory system which might not match particular skills or needs. The long-term unemployed might eventually drift back into unemployment. I know the career plan will be important but if we do not do it right, will the participant be punished for being put on the wrong scheme which he or she did not like and comes off it? Is there room for trial and error? As was mentioned, we must ensure jobseekers are at the centre of the initiative and that they are active participants. Ms Whelan mentioned that we need to ensure young people do not just take up positions on a course based on availability in an area.

I refer to payments made to young jobseekers. How will that happen? Deputy Griffin mentioned people from rural areas. If somebody in a rural area is looking at a position in his or her catchment area which does not meet his or her skillset, how will we ensure he or she can go from Cavan to Dublin, for example, to do a course which suits his or her career trajectory? Ms Whelan mentioned the rurality issue also. Does she believe the pilot in Ballymum will transfer to rural areas? How will it be provided for in the future?

I refer to funding. The Swedish model was mentioned. Based on the Swedish model, the ILO put the cost of the youth guarantee in Ireland at €347 million, without the administrative costs. When one adds the administrative costs, it will be €435 million. How did we get to the €14 million formula? How was it worked out that we would allocate €14 million? I am a big fan of evidence-based policy. What was actually used to say €14 million?