Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will also answer Deputy Collins's other question before she leaves. I cannot understand why the data is two years behind. I do not have any idea why that is the case. The next time I expect to receive data is in December 2019. Taking into account the report we received a couple of months ago that showed a devastating picture of the impact of policy changes and cuts on, in particular, lone parents, I am very hopeful that the initiatives taken last year and the year before will have had a positive impact. I know that many of our lone parents are now working in much better jobs than would have been the case a number of years ago. What I really want to see is data which identify where problems continue to exist so that we can home in and see exactly who has not benefitted from the changes we have made. We can then collectively decided what next needs to be done. It is not the case that we can just keep increasing a disregard if the disregard is not hitting certain women because they are not working. While the increase in the qualified child increase, QCI, is welcome, we are not going to get increases of QCI by 20% every year. We need to target increases at the people who are not benefitting from the changes we have made but I will not have that data until later this year.

I acknowledge that youth unemployment is not decreasing as quickly as the long-term unemployment and general unemployment rates are. I am hopeful that the pilot programme that we launched a couple of months ago, the youth employment support scheme, YESS, will have an impact. I originally asked for a particular amount of funding. We have to go through the pilot project for six months before I can get increased funding. We are approximately four months into the six months and so I would expect to have a good preliminary report on the success of YESS in the next couple of months. I might then be here seeking agreement for more money. We have to address this area. The initiatives will have to be employer-led. It is not a case of simply sending some of our young people to college or to an employment scheme. The initiatives must be more tailored and in the employment environment. I am hopeful the YESS project will work. I will come back to the Deputy with an update.