Seán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)

The Government has repeatedly proven its ability to manage the Irish economy, irrespective of the circumstances of the day. Since we came to power in 1997 we have guided the State through one of the most remarkable transformations that has ever occurred in any modern economy. We have created record levels of employment — an additional 640,000 jobs in the past decade. We have significantly improved the standard of living for all our citizens. We have invested in our future by investing historically high levels in our infrastructure, our education and training systems and the continued development of our workforce. Over the past 11 years the Government has taken the necessary steps that will ensure Ireland continues to succeed in the future. However, I acknowledge that Ireland like almost every other country is in the midst of an especially difficult time. We are feeling the effects of the global economic storm that is currently impacting on practically every major economy.

Earlier today the live register figures for October were published, which showed that more than 250,000 people were now on the live register. This is very disappointing and heartbreaking for all those involved but is a sign of the difficult times we are experiencing as illustrated by the slowdown in the global and national economy.

The Government is committed to addressing the significant problem of rising unemployment. Over the course of this evening and yesterday we heard the efforts currently being made by the Departments of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and Social and Family Affairs, FÁS and other bodies to deliver the required support services to assist those who are unemployed. Last month in budget 2009 the Government announced an additional allocation of €9.5 million to assist FÁS in responding to the increasing numbers of unemployed.

We have initiated specific actions to respond to the large number of people who have lost their jobs in the construction sector, including redundant apprentices. I am particularly conscious of the large cohort of people under 25 years of age who have lost their jobs in the construction sector. Many of these people would have been in the apprenticeship system and that is why the Government is taking the necessary measures to ensure as many of these redundant apprentices are given the opportunity to complete their apprenticeship, which will assist them in securing employment.

I can assure this House that the Government will continue to make strenuous efforts in seeking out job opportunities and up-skilling our unemployed to assist them in benefiting from the creation of new and forthcoming job opportunities.

Apart from the role of the back to education initiative and VTOS, I would like to speak about skills. As Minister of State with responsibility for lifelong learning, I am strongly of the view that investment in the continued development of the skills and competencies of our workforce will provide us with the competitive advantage we require to continue to succeed in the future.

Our national skills strategy provides us with the roadmap for developing this advantage and making Ireland one of the most competitive knowledge based economies in the world. The implementation of the ambitious vision contained in the strategy, namely the up-skilling of an additional half a million people by at least one level on the national framework of qualifications by 2020, will be challenging. However, as the Minister of State who has responsibility for achieving this challenge, I am determined that we succeed.

I wish to reiterate that the Government has repeatedly proven itself capable of taking the necessary steps to safeguard Ireland's economy. Our actions in recent weeks testify to our willingness to make tough decisions and to act in the national interest.

In response to the current difficulties, we have increased the measures of support available from the State to support those who have become unemployed. We will continue to provide the unemployed with up-skilling opportunities and the continued support of a range of other schemes such as community employment schemes, the back to education allowance and the vocational training opportunities scheme to assist these people secure new employment as quickly as possible.

The Government will continue to manage the Irish economy in a manner that is sensible, responsible and appropriate to sustain our quality of life and our recent economic success in the coming years.

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