John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will make some comments while the Senator might to look at the opening statement.

I have often referred to the issues and challenges facing the long-term unemployed. There have been many reports on what we have done in the past. We have statistics for the numbers of people unemployed, the percentages who got jobs, the costs associated and so forth. It is very quantitative, but the quality of jobs and the aspirations of people are rarely mentioned in the reports. We spend a lot of time just looking at the raw numbers.

I do not pass criticism on what we have done in recent years.

However, the challenge we are facing for the next few years is a different ballgame. What we did that worked in the past will not be fit for purpose. We need more. The group of people we are examining now are long-term unemployed. In many cases they come from geographical areas which would be referred to as black spots of high unemployment. The areas have had that tag for a long time. Then there is the intergenerational issue in families. The issue we are looking at is somewhat different. We are also in a situation where, significantly, employers have positions they are unable to fill. Our programme for the future must be more than presenting an individual to fill a vacancy because the capacity of the individual to fill that vacancy must be examined.

My first observation is that whatever new programme emerges must be more holistic and must deal with the challenge of the preparation of the person. I know many people in their mid-20s who have never worked. They might not have even done transition year and they are out of school for ten or 12 years. They are not work ready. In other words, one could present them with an opportunity but they do not have the experience and they are out of education. There are many more challenges for such people and the new programme must reflect that. It must go further than just focus on employment. I accept that the Minister's responsibility is employment affairs and social protection. This issue must be addressed in a whole-of-Government way. That includes education and the role of DEIS schools. The Minister has a role to play as she refers to it often with regard to school meals and so forth. It must be well co-ordinated. We still have a situation where the outcomes for children attending DEIS schools are not equal to those of children attending non-DEIS schools.

There is an array of challenges and they must be dealt with holistically. While getting a person a job is one goal, the goals have to be more than that and include the quality of job and the community the person comes from. This is not just about addressing the needs of an individual. It is not just the individual but the family the individual belongs to and the communities the individuals comes from. It is a much more difficult task than what we have faced over the last number of years.

I have a specific comment on one of the recommendations, which states, "Reflecting the decline in the number of individuals who are experiencing long-term unemployment and given the role of other measures including JobPath in assisting this group, we recommend that Local Employment Services should in the future focus on the most disadvantaged activation and other client groups who are not currently obtaining assistance from other State-delivered/funded programmes." I would be careful with the last part. Even if somebody is in a programme at present it might not be the appropriate one. We must be careful when setting up a new activation to deal with the long-term unemployed. If somebody is already in a programme, that programme is an opportunity that exists today but it might not be the best fit for the person's needs. That person should not be automatically excluded. I give that caution as we design the new programme.

Those are my opening observations. I call Senator Higgins.