Mr. Ian Power:

I will ask James Doorley, who was the author of the study, to talk about it more widely in a moment but first I will address some of the points. In terms of the study, it was qualitative and looked at the experiences not just the numbers, to respond to what Deputy Byrne was saying. Of those surveyed, two thirds were generally satisfied while one third was dissatisfied. We are trying to be constructive in terms of what can be improved and the Deputy asked about three aspects. With JobBridge, it should be the case that one cannot do the job when one starts it. One should have to learn the skills over the duration of the period in order for it to have been a meaningful experience. What we found from talking to young people was that they were not adequately mentored. The space and time was not provided by supervisors, which is the big area of concern. They were not getting the learning outcomes and were having those issues. There was some concern about displacement. That is not in the majority, it is the minority, and I understand that there are a lot of people who have benefited. However, we want that experience for everyone who participates, not just a certain number. I take that point as it is very important.

I turn briefly to the Youth Guarantee. A huge level of support is required for some young people who may have been at a distance from the labour market for some time, which is why the Youth Guarantee is so useful. It breaks it down into different groups and addresses the needs of those young people personally because not everybody is homogenous. Everybody is different in terms of background and where they would like to go. We have a concern in regard to the provision of the places - the 23 versus the 28 - that are planned and we do not have any visibility of the strategy for 2015 and 2016. It is a positive thing and we have learned how well it works from Ballymun. We want to see it happening in every community in Ireland, which is why we say we need a strategy and a plan and the money.

When the Youth Guarantee was initially being discussed, there was talk of approximately €130 million per annum in funding from Europe. We have confirmation now that it is approximately €60 million. Why is that difference there? We would like to know about it. While there is not necessarily a need for a huge amount of money, there is a need for somebody in each community like the Ballymun jobs centre to co-ordinate, get everyone around the table and knock heads together. It is someone to say that there are employers who can offer X amount of work experience, ask who is interested in it and join the dots. That is what is important from our perspective. I pass over to James Doorley to address some of the concerns about the report.