John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)

Unemployment is measured by the quarterly national household survey, collated and published by the CSO. The latest release on 5 June for the first quarter, December-February 2008, shows that there are now 28,800 young people unemployed, an increase of 1,000 in the year, and the youth unemployment rate is 8.8%. This is one of the lowest among other EU member states and compares favourably to the youth unemployment rate for the EU 27 in 2007 of 15.4%.

The latest live register release on 10 June, relating to the month of May, recorded 42,730 young people under 25 as signing on, an increase of 12,169 in the year. The live register is not designed to measure unemployment as it includes part-time, seasonal and casual workers who might be signing on from time to time.

A range of measures and supports is provided on an ongoing basis by FÁS, aimed specifically at assisting young people who have greater difficulty in entering or re-entering the labour market. These include an extensive range of training interventions for young early school leavers as part of the Youthreach programme jointly managed by FÁS and the Department of Education and Science. The interventions are delivered in predominantly disadvantaged areas in both urban and rural communities, through the provision of training, education and learning supports to enhance opportunities for progression to the labour market or further training and education.

A range of bridging, specific skills training courses and traineeship programmes, accredited by FETAC, is provided through FÁS training centres. These programmes help to raise participants to raise their educational and skill levels and to gain work experience with a view to improving individual employability. Job clubs funded by FÁS, in conjunction with the community and voluntary sectors, are aimed at providing enhanced job-seeking supports, such as interview skills, CV preparation etc.

While the slowdown in the economy has resulted in less employment growth than that experienced more recently, employment has grown by 2.6% or 53,800 in the year to the first quarter of 2008 and is forecast to continue to grow this year by 24,000. In addition, the employment market still has job vacancies. The most recent FÁS-ESRI employment and vacancies survey for April 2008 shows that 7% of firms are reporting vacancies.

For anyone who may become unemployed a number of supports are available. After three months on the live register those who are still unemployed are referred by the Department of Social and Family Affairs to FÁS to assist them into training or employment. FÁS is working through its own employment service and with the local employment service provided by area based partnerships to provide increased interviewing and caseload management capacity to respond to the increased numbers on the live register.

Specifically, FÁS is implementing a range of short and medium-term actions for those affected by the increase in unemployment and the construction slowdown. These include putting in place training to upskill construction workers in respect of emerging needs; business training and mentoring for workers from larger enterprises entering self-employment; developing measures to ensure continuity in the apprenticeship system; and promoting access for mobile workers to construction jobs elsewhere in the EU, including the UK.

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