Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte mhór roimh an Aire agus guím gach rath air. Tá súil agam go n-éireoidh leis san obair chrua atá roimhe. I wish the Minister of State the very best of luck. I know that he will take a special interest in the issues we will discuss during the meeting.
Undeclared work is a major issue. I understand that in the European Union it is estimated that 18% of the work carried out is undeclared, which leads to a lot of difficulties for many sectors within society. We talk about these issues, but enforcement is a significant issue across the entire sphere of workers' rights and experiences. The best intentions and the best legislation in the world will not be worth anything to those at the coalface unless they are properly enforced and there is an adequate system which works.
Employment and social policy is very interesting for a number of reasons. The Minister of State has articulated a view in his statement that does not seem to be too far from mine. The fiscal austerity path taken by the European Union in the past few years has no doubt frozen the growth prospects of the Union and, therefore, made it much more difficult to create employment. The euro area has an unemployment level of 11.5%, while across the 28 member states it is 10.1%. If one is outside the European Union one has a better chance of tackling the employment problem, probably owing to the fiscal measures one could employ. It is very important that we ensure the decision makers within Europe focus on altering the Union's disastrous policy.
I still have major concerns about the youth guarantee and the level of youth unemployment. I know that efforts have been made by the Minister of State's colleagues in government to try to focus on this issue, but these efforts have been short on ambition and resources. There are still incredible levels of youth unemployment in this and all member states on the periphery. There is a significant difference between the youth unemployment level in Germany and that in Greece and Spain where it is 51% and 53%, respectively. I encourage the Minister of State to inject a level of ambition into European policy as it affects member states on the periphery.
The issue of a stimulus, while discussed ad nauseamfor the past three years, has not yet been dealt with properly from a European and Irish perspective. It is still necessary to tackle the issue of employment creation. While the employment figures have improved in the past while, only 5,000 new jobs were created in the first six months of the year, which is paltry considering the pressure we are under. Some 40,000 new jobs have been created since the Government came to power, a figure which is dwarfed by the level of emigration.
With regard to social policy, what will the Minister of State bring to the table on a minimum or living wage? He has made some statements to the effect that he would like to see the minimum wage improved in the next few years. Since this is his first meeting with the committee, it might be useful for him to articulate his plans on the timescale for the low pay commission. I would like to have some understanding of it, as well as the position on zero hour contracts.

With regard to the working poor, the OECD report indicating that Ireland has the second largest portion of working poor after the United States, while shocking, was expected by many of us at another level. The Minister of State might give his views on that as well.