Joanna Tuffy (Dublin Mid West, Labour)

The Government needs targeted measures for different categories of people signing on in order that as many of them as possible can take up jobs. For example, more needs to be done to address long-term unemployment. Research highlights that long-term unemployed people and their families are more likely to be poor and an initiative taken by Tallaght Institute of Technology, on which my father worked, involved training the long-term unemployed for jobs in Intel. More of this type of approach is needed.

The recent quarterly national household survey showed there was a decrease in the number of men at work of more than 32,000 and male unemployment increased by 58.3% compared to an increase of 37.1% in unemployed females. The vulnerability of men to unemployment in the current economic climate needs to be addressed. The largest decrease in male unemployment was in the construction sector. There is a need to ensure older men who worked in manufacturing or construction and who were let go are given assistance to find new jobs in order that they do not become long-term unemployed. Many issues arise for men and older women in this position. They usually have lower levels of educational attainment and age discrimination is a factor. We know anecdotally many employers will not hire older people and one is considered old when one is 40. Such people are less likely to emigrate because of family commitments at that stage of their lives. We must not return to the mentality that abounded when I finished college in the late 1980s that emigration is a safety valve. Many of my friends emigrated and never returned. We lose as a society when people emigrate to other countries apart from the loss they suffer. Many of them have gone on to have successful lives elsewhere.

Youth unemployment is another phenomenon. The rate of increase among people aged under 25 signing on the live register is much greater than that for other age groups. The percentage increase in this category between October 2007 and October 2008 was 71% compared to an increase of 57% in other age groups. This suggests people aged under 25 are more vulnerable to the increase in unemployment and, in some towns, the increase has been more than 100% over the past year. For example, the increase in the number of young people signing on was 120% in towns in Cork county. There have been big increases in certain areas, therefore, measures must be targeted on a geographical basis to tackle youth unemployment, in particular.

I refer to the steps taken in the past in places experiencing serious recession and youth unemployment. Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal involved measures which involved the public sector and third level colleges in providing training and work experience to young people who were vulnerable to the depression. Similarly, the French Socialist Party when it was in government took measures specifically to help young people get back to work. New schemes could be introduced similar to the social employment schemes and the community employment schemes. As one who participated in the social employment schemes introduced by Deputy Ruairí Quinn, I realise there needs to be a much higher level of quality and training as part of any such schemes.

The Government needs to arm itself with information about why particular groups are more vulnerable to unemployment than others, and what their needs are in terms of educational qualifications or any other needs, so it can put in place programmes that will train them and give them opportunities to get back into the workforce. There should be great emphasis on trying to create jobs and training people for the type of areas in which we need to create jobs in future, such as the environmental goods and services sector, information and computer technology, and so on. We need to get all of the agencies to work together, including third level colleges, which are not involved in this issue at all.

To conclude, the most important point in building our economy is to provide opportunities for jobs. This is not just about the economy. The reason we want jobs is so that people have a better quality of life. This should be our primary response. There needs to be a much more proactive approach than is the case at present. We need to make sure we give the necessary training and skills to have a sustainable economy in the future.

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