Mr. James Doorley:

This process is not part of the legal framework. We know that if member states infringe a treaty, a directive or the other legal mechanisms they can be referred by the Commission to the European Court of Justice from which there are potential financial implications, but a treaty change or some other change would probably be required to have that happen.

Deputy Byrne spoke about progression on education. That is probably one of the areas where we have seen a good deal of success in Ireland. In terms of the Europe 2020 strategy on school completion rates, Ireland is doing very well in keeping young people in education for as long as possible. On employment, data was published some years ago indicating that youth unemployment for third level graduates was approximately 18% whereas for young people who left school after the junior certificate it was approximately 65%. There is a big correlation, therefore, between educational attainment and employment. That is a success. Nobody can deny that we have done well in that area but the question is whether we can do even better in that regard.

Senator Reilly raised the issue of the macroeconomic conditionality. That is a major concern because if on the one hand a member state is told it must meet all the social indicators while, on the other, it is required to reduce spending or debt to GDP or whatever, there is a clash between the two objectives. It is being told to spend and invest more in young people or women, in terms of addressing issues of inequality, while another arm of the Commission is telling it that it must reduce its spending. That is a dilemma.

We had a meeting with the official regarding the European social funds. In the past the process was that the member state produced the plan at the start, was required to do a mid-term review of spending following which the funds might be adjusted on the basis of its performance, and then it would be reviewed at the end of that process. The European Commission is now insisting on an annual review of the work being done and, therefore, if a member state is not seen to be implementing what it promised at the start of the programme or whatever, the Commission is stating clearly that it will examine the amount of funding that has been given.

Deputy Durkan spoke about the youth guarantee. There is a good deal of progress in that area. The European institutions have allocated €6 billion to this area, which is very welcome. Ireland must submit its youth guarantee implementation plan by the end of the year. The Department of Social Protection held a consultation meeting a number of weeks ago. We have made a submission. We are concerned that what is being guaranteed, which is a quality offer of education, training and work experience within four months of becoming unemployed, will be a big ask. The funding currently available, which is approximately €200 million in 2014 and 2015, is not sufficient in our view in terms of having enough resources to provide the places or the actual staff to engage with young people because the individual plan each young person is meant to undertake is part of that. We may need to examine from where we should start in that regard. Obviously, we will not start with all young people who meet the criteria. There might be a question of starting with those young people who need it most. Young people who have been the longest unemployed would be one criterion. We are making progress. We would hope there will be some engagement with civil society before the Irish plan is submitted to Brussels. We would be anxious to contribute to it.