Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)

The issue we are discussing tonight is very serious. Over the past decade we have seen incredible growth in the economy. In the past 11 years, coinciding with Fianna Fáil being in Government, some 640,000 new jobs were created. However, right now we find ourselves in the middle of an unprecedented global economic crisis. One hears people describing it as possibly the worst since the great depression, or even worse than it. Unfortunately, today, we see an increase in the numbers signing on the live register. My constituency, area and family are not strangers to that phenomenon. It is affecting families across the country. Although the Irish rate is still lower than the EU average, there is no denying that unemployment is on the rise. It poses challenges for us as legislators and for the Government. It is essential that the Government acts quickly, as indeed it has. It is doing what it can to get our unemployment rate down, the economy back in track and people back to work.

Moving the budget forward helped the Government address the problem. If the budget had not taken place when it did, there would still be an enormous degree of uncertainty and speculation over what might or might not happen and that would not be helpful, given the challenges we face. One of the most important steps we need to take is to invest in the skills of our people. We must ensure Irish workers have the skills and training they need. The budget allocated €1 billion to FÁS. The only problem I have with FÁS, which is doing great work, is the emphasis it places on construction skills. My fear is that with the rate of house building we had, which presumably will not happen again, there is a certain cohort of workers who simply will not work in construction any more. This is because we will not be building houses in the numbers we have been over the last few years. These people will need to be reskilled in different areas, if not in totally different sectors, and not just construction. Deputy White mentioned green collar jobs and I agree with her in that regard. However, a certain cohort of such workers will never work again in construction. They will only attain the success they deserve by retraining or reskilling.

Some €208 million will be spent this year on training unemployed people. This means that workers who recently lost their jobs should and can be taught the skills to enable them find work and begin new careers. Under the disability heading, some €78 million is earmarked in the budget towards providing employment and training opportunities and programmes for the disabled. We have to monitor all of these programmes as well to ensure they are doing what they set out to do. I spoke yesterday to the chief executive officer of my local VEC and he mentioned a number of programmes he thought were wasteful. He said they were not achieving the objectives intended for them and were just giving people somewhere to go on a daily basis. That is not what Government funding is about. Whether it is for the unemployed or the disabled, we must ensure that the programmes we have in place do what they were meant to do — improve the opportunities available to the people on those courses.

Every type of business has been hurt by the global credit crunch. The construction industry has been hit particularly hard. FÁS is helping people find new jobs and to reskill. We need people to work in new growing industries. Environmental jobs were mentioned as well. The national skills strategy was released in 2007. The goal was to encourage workers of all ages to continue their education and included the concept of fourth level education as well, which is very important. It is important to continue our commitment to the strategy. We need to ensure workers remain competitive and skilled. Investing in the workforce, as the Government is doing, will help ensure the economy will improve as quickly as possible. Training and education will prepare workers for the future.

Again, I agree with Deputy O'Connor that the work being done by Ministers of State, Deputies Kelleher and McGuinness, and the other Ministers of State under the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Mary Coughlan, is fantastic. They are deeply committed to the economy and workers, as is the entire Fianna Fáil Party, the other Government parties and indeed all the parties around the House.

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