Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)

There is so much loving going on here tonight that I should look for a bucket. Following on the figures released today, this debate has much more relevance. The figures show the situation is very serious. In the past month alone, following seasonal adjustment, the figures have increased by over 15,000. That is a substantial jump in one month. The unemployment figure now is at a seriously high 260,000 and this calls into question the unemployment figure mentioned in the budget for next year. That figure is way off.

We have big problems and must face them. I am afraid we will be back here next year facing a possible 10% or 12% unemployment rate, or even higher if we are unlucky. We must get serious about the problem.

There is a lack of realism in the House, especially on the Government benches, about the seriousness of the situation. We accept that jobs were created over the past ten years. The Minister of State will recall that I complained last week about the Minister's speech and about the praise he lavished on the work done over the years. I agree work was done, but that is over and we must now deal with the current position and consider how we can get through the difficulties we face. We cannot just keep talking about all the jobs created in the past.

The Minister of State stated:

The Government has attached the highest priority to assisting these people. We will continue to direct the necessary resources to the employment and training support services, which will provide a helping hand and assist these people in securing other employment as soon as possible.

What is the difference between that and previous statements? I see no new focus in this, and nor is there any new focus demonstrated in anything that was said last night or tonight.

The Minister of State also stated:

The Government has already taken decisive action to respond to the challenges we are now facing. We have shown leadership and sent out a strong message that Ireland is responding to the global economic crisis in a proactive and prudent manner.

I must have missed something, because I have been around here for the past couple of months but have not seen this happen. Nor has anyone else. We cannot create an illusion around ourselves. We must realise that things must change and that we must do things differently. It is useless to just talk about changes and to claim we have reacted. We have not reacted and no change has been made. If we had reacted, unemployment would be decreasing rather than increasing.

The Government's amendment to the motion suggests the Government has taken early action to address the deterioration in economic and fiscal prospects by introducing the 2009 budget early. It has not done this. Instead, it has brought total confusion and disarray, it lacks confidence and has failed to bring stability to the situation. We all thought bringing forward the budget was a good idea because it would bring stability and let people know what was going to happen over the next year. However, that has not happened. The budget is dead. It has fallen apart at the seams and there is a view we will have to wait until April or May for the next budget to address the problems. That is the reality. Those people with money who might be in a position to create jobs will hold back, as will people who want to buy houses, because they do not know what will come next. The Government has failed to bring stability and confidence to the situation and this will have serious consequences for employment in the months ahead.

The Government amendment states the Dáil supports the Government in stabilising the financial services sector so that Irish enterprises, small, medium and large, have improved access to funds. The Government praises itself for this, but this has not happened. The Minister of State said last night that he was concerned the banks might target the productive areas of the economy. He is right about that. It is clear he did not write the Government amendment because he is right and should be concerned. Banks are not making money available to small businesses, or any businesses and this is a reason jobs are being lost. Companies and small and medium businesses in all areas that we thought were secure and would last forever are now losing jobs. Each day we hear stories such as that 70 jobs are going in one area and another, ten will go the following week and the business will be gone in six months. Daily, we get telephone calls from businesses that cannot get money to keep them in business.

Banks write to businesses now to warn them their overdraft is, for example, €25,000. They warn that the following week this will be cut to €12,500 and a month later it will be withdrawn. This is no way to treat businesses. How can they cope with this situation? The Government has a duty to work with the Financial Regulator and the banks to address the situation, particularly in view of the fact that so much has been done for the banks in terms of the guarantee. I understand the guarantee was given to protect the economy, but the banks have been helped by it. We should have a quid pro quo and get something back from the banks.

The Government amendment mentions the county and city enterprise boards and the work done in that area. The Minister of State, Deputy John McGuinness, spoke about an extra €3 million, which only amounts to approximately €100,000 per county. The enterprise boards do excellent work and should be better funded. The majority of them have been cash strapped since the middle of this year. Therefore, providing them with an extra few euro for next year will not make a significant impact. We will have already lost six months by then.

I urge the Minister of State, Deputy Kelleher, to take another look at this and find more money for enterprise boards, because they create jobs. Significant numbers of applications have been submitted to the boards by people who want to start businesses. They cannot get money from the banks so must get it some place else. If the Government cannot convince the banks to make the money available, it must bring in its own scheme for funding loans for small and new businesses. I acknowledge the Government mentioned providing tax deferral to new companies, but it should also consider tax deferrals for existing businesses in order to save jobs because these businesses are under pressure. Despite the pressure under which businesses operate, the Minister brought forward the date for paying tax, sucking cash out of the system rather than pumping it back in to give the businesses the opportunity to survive.

The Minister of State, Deputy McGuinness, patted himself on the back yesterday for having segregated Enterprise Ireland and enterprise boards, thereby doing away with the confusion that existed about them. There is confusion. The members of the Joint Committee on Enterprise, Trade and Employment spent the summer visiting enterprise boards and chambers of commerce in the greater Dublin area and learned there is confusion about which companies belong to the various areas. I am aware Deputy Kelleher and Deputy McGuinness have a big interest in this area, but they must get real about the situation and the confusion and try and deal with it. The rules relating to the enterprise boards must be changed. Currently the rules are too tight with regard to whom the boards can give assistance and grants. Circumstances are different now and we must make changes to go forward.

The Government has suggested that FÁS will receive extra money for training, etc. I welcome this because the Fine Gael motion is concerned with providing money for training so as to provide opportunities for people. It is intended that €9 million will be made available to help apprentices to secure the job experience they need to complete their training. However, nothing is said about how this will be done. FÁS set up a working group in April 2007 to sort out the apprentice problem, but despite being repeatedly asked to explain what is to be done, it has not come up with a solution. Last night again, the Minister of State mentioned the problem would be dealt with, but no plan has been put forward for doing this. What is the plan and can we see it and help with it? I have said previously that this side of the House is willing to work with ideas, not block them or cause confusion, but if we are not provided with information, we cannot do that.

Many of those who made speeches last night spoke about what the Government intends to do and the language used gave no guarantees or targets. I am unhappy with that kind of approach. The Government approach should be to say what it will do and should set and meet targets if it is to spend extra money in the training and employment area.

My hobby horse is the need for new labour or skills activation schemes. We accept the CE schemes do a great job for some sectors. They do excellent work, but we should try to tweak these schemes and improve the work they do. However, many people who have lost their jobs in the past year do not qualify for any of the existing schemes. They are highly skilled and we must find a way to match them with jobs through some kind of labour activation scheme. This must be possible and we must consider how it can be done. This suggestion was made in a speech, but no definite proposal was made. Fine Gael has suggested this repeatedly but has not been given any satisfaction.

How difficult is it to match skilled people with jobs? Deputy Enright mentioned last night that the cost to the State of an unemployed person is approximately €350 a week, if not €400. Surely, we should be able to find some useful work for that person that would give them a little extra to add to that €350, sufficient to encourage them to do that work. All of society would gain from this. This is what we must do. We must use our imagination, talk the ideas through and see if we can come up with a better solution.

Many speakers last night spoke about the significant number of people under the age of 25 who are out of work. We must direct some schemes at this problem. I urge the Minister of State to look at the New Deal scheme that operates in Britain, which works well. It is a focused scheme and is directed specifically at this age group. It gets them into a job by providing a grant or subsidy to employers to take them on. We must do something similar. We need a specific scheme for the under 25 group and specific labour activation schemes for other categories. We must have four or five schemes that will match people and their skills with jobs. We must get people working. It is not good for people used to working to be left sitting at home. We have a duty to get them back into employment.

See this speech in context