Mr. Peter Davitt:

There are various pillars to FIT activity. The core business is to give second-chance opportunities to the long-term unemployed. In recent years we have shifted focus somewhat to unemployed professionals. We have been reskilling and upskilling people from the construction sector and other areas that have reached level six, seven or eight but may not have technology or project management skills. Under MOMENTUM we have assisted around 500 people and another 200 are in the pipeline. Unfortunately, the level of youth unemployment is high in Ireland so we focus on young people through the associate professional initiative because they have talent and ability. The associate professional initiative is an effective conduit - the aim is get people with high skill levels through the programme within two years rather than four. This is an immediate response to the need for skilled young people in the economy.

We are conscious that Ireland is an island in the European economy and the ICT sector across Europe needs 800,000 skilled workers. If a variant of this model can support people in Portugal, Greece and elsewhere we will commit to support such efforts.