Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I have received negative feedback but I have also received positive feedback. On the issue of cost, if one considers that the basic unemployment benefit of slightly more than €200 per week is equivalent to €11,000 per annum, the scheme is good value for money. I worked for more than ten years with a community employment scheme that worked with young people who had dropped out of school and tried to bring them back into the education system. We carried out a survey that found that five years after leaving us, more than 70% of them were in full-time employment. That is in circumstances where there were many family difficulties, etc. An interesting thing about that project, which took place in the 1990s, is that it cost £12,000 per person who went through the facility over a 12-month time period. If one looks at the cost of the instant scheme, it is not too different. I think it is good value for money, especially when one considers the significant benefits to the 22,000 people who are getting opportunities and have the facility of training, etc., to go back into employment. The big problem we will have in the coming two years is that many companies that took on extra staff may reduce staffing levels. That is one of the problems we will have.