Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 4 November 2015

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection

JobBridge and the Youth Guarantee: National Youth Council, Ballymun Jobs Centre and Department of Social Protection

1:00 pm

Mr. Mick Creedon:

We can target it and, therefore, there is not as much pressure on resources. It is a question of thinking about it differently. I can remember - I was around at the time - when they had the task force on long-term unemployment which set up the local employment services. The local employment services were deliberately set up in particular areas of disadvantage to bring all the actors together. They have developed that expertise. They are generally located in specific areas of disadvantage. We do not need to have it as a national scheme. We have to consider what we need in a given area. For example, we would have to run something very different from the pilot in Ballymun in a rural area. It is about looking at enabling national programmes to have some local flexibility. That is a key lesson for me.