Brendan Ryan (Dublin North, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I will be brief. First, I welcome the presentations by the three groups, which have been useful in informing the joint committee. I welcome the review announced by the Department. It had been called for by the National Youth Council and it is good to learn it is being delivered. Does the Department have a view at this point as to whether there might be a continuing need for JobBridge at a time when unemployment is decreasing at its present rate of improvement? As for the two surveys to which reference was made, I note that were members only to hear the results therefrom one at a time, they would walk away with a different sense of people's experience in this regard. The National Youth Council survey found that 27% of participants gained full-time employment, whereas the Indecon survey referred to 61% obtaining paid employment. Does that definition account for the difference in this regard or is there something beyond that? On the survey conducted by the National Youth Council, can its representatives clarify whether its survey covers only the 84 people who participated in the sample?

Mr. Carroll emphasised that JobBridge is completely voluntary. I note that certain political parties have made much hay out of references to "ScamBridge" and so on, as though people were forced to do it. Is there an element of force at ground level in respect of activation? Are people who do not go down this road looked at differently?