Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)

I will begin with a quotation from the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment report entitled Innovation in Ireland published in 2008:

Ireland's ability to build and sustain its innovation capacity depends on developing and maintaining our skills at world-class levels, and on high quality, continuous education. Individuals need to respond to the increasing pressures of globalisation by embracing a culture of life-long learning and employability;...

I repeat the second sentence: "Individuals need to respond to the increasing pressures of globalisation by embracing a culture of life-long learning and employability". I listened carefully to the Minister and it is hard to disagree with what has been said in that one senses there is a proactive approach and a continuation of strategies to maintain employment. However, were I one of the 32,000 plus persons made redundant and thus having to apply between 1 January and the end of this month for assistance under the redundancy scheme, this would not provide me with too much solace.

I know of a particular apprentice — there are hundreds like him — who, even if he wanted, could not return to complete his course because there are no jobs in his particular field. The construction industry has dried up. The proof of this is the current lack of house building. Given these trends, apprentices are reluctant to continue their training.

I know of an apprentice who, having completed his leaving certificate examination in 2006, decided to embark on a few years' travelling. When he returned home he took up an apprenticeship as a cabinet maker but was subsequently laid off. He then decided, given the trends that were emerging, to do a public relations course. When the person concerned, who was in receipt of jobseeker's allowance, approached the Department of Social and Family Affairs in respect of a place on a public relations course he was told he would have to be signing on for 156 days before he would quality for the back-to-education allowance. This is wherein the nub of the problem lies.

I referred earlier to the thousands of people already laid-off and made redundant, many of whom want to get back into the education sphere. I acknowledge the €1.5 billion allocation for FÁS and the investment in SMEs. However, many of the people who previously worked in research and development and high-end IT jobs now want to do MBAs and to upskill but there is no mechanism through which they can re-enter the FÁS or SME framework without their incurring serious economic hardship. These people do not qualify for third level grants or the back-to-education allowance as they are already in receipt of the jobseeker's allowance.

Were I on the opposite side of the House I would be re-examining the demographics of this situation in terms of where the lay-offs have taken place and the educational attainment of those involved. I would also be much more flexible in my approach, which is what the Government will have to be if unemployment continues to rise. A person who is eligible for jobseeker's allowance for 12 months should also be eligible for a back-to-education allowance if he or she wishes to upskill by re-entering the education system.

The 22,500 people currently engaged in community employment schemes do exceptional work. However, many of these people are hampered after a few years by the principle of progression, of which we hear so much. I would also be a little more flexible in respect of the requirement to quit a community employment scheme after a specified period. I would allow for a greater degree of flexibility in terms of permitting these people, where possible, to continue to work in their communities and would pay them the allowances required in this regard. This would help to sustain communities and would provide these people with employment.

There have been lay-offs in a wide range of areas, including agriculture, banking, finance and insurance. A wide array of people will not necessarily fit into the training schemes envisaged by Government. Many people working in the energy, manufacturing, building and civil engineering areas have been laid-off and will not get work any time soon. Many of them were reliant on the construction industry and on the IT sector, in particular the research and development component of the IT sector, an area almost always hit first during a downturn. These people are unable to return to the education system unless they pay for it themselves. While an unemployed single person with savings has a good chance of accessing a third level course, an unemployed person within a family structure will need to put aside every penny to meet his or her family circumstances.

The Government needs to apply some lateral thinking in this area. It does not appear to have internalised the full extent of the problems facing unemployed people in the future. Instead of quoting chapter and verse in this House on that which we know already — one has only to look at the Departments' websites to learn what is being spent — it should bring forth fresh ideas in regard to how our people can upskill.

I acknowledge the investment in FÁS training for installation schemes and so on. It was once said to me that the next boom might result from our having to fix some of the faulty and dodgy houses constructed in haste during the past ten years. It may be that such a scheme will be required. However, we must also cater for high end jobs. We must bear in mind that hundreds, if not thousands, of people are currently unemployed.

We need to look after those people who will not necessarily fit into the mechanism prescribed by the two Ministers in their response. I reiterate the Government's words that individuals need to respond. Individuals want to respond to the changing market and to this downturn. However, they may want to diversify into completely different areas of education. This, for some people, is an opportunity to re-assess from where they come. If we are talking about entrepreneurial spirit in this country, the only way it can be reinvigorated is if the €179 million allocated to Science Foundation Ireland or €90 million spent on encouraging FDI is re-examined and perhaps apportioned at least in part to localised schemes for people who have that kind of spirit and who wish to create indigenous and SME-type industry.

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