Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)

I thank Deputy O'Shea for raising this important issue. I will give the House the most up-to-date information on the unemployment situation in Waterford. The most recent live register figures that are broken down by region were published in May. They showed that 13,661 people - 9,047 male and 4,614 female - were signing on the register in County Waterford at that time. The national live register figures for the end of June, which were published earlier this week, showed the continued strong upward trend in the number of people signing on the dole. When seasonal factors are taken into account, some 413,500 people were signing on the live register last month. That figure represents a month-on-month increase of 11,400. On the basis of the figures I have given the House, our standardised unemployment rate is currently 11.9%. It is worth pointing out that in the 12-month period to the end of May 2009, some 144,000 people left the live register as they had secured employment, which shows that jobs continue to be created. We need to tailor our activation measures to ensure unemployed people have the best chance of securing employment as soon as possible. We can agree that the current economic crisis probably represents the greatest challenge to this country's well-being since the 1980s. Our public finances have deteriorated, our unemployment rates continue to rise and our banking system is need of continued remedial action.

The aim of IDA Ireland's strategy for County Waterford is to make progress with the development of a knowledge-based economy so that the county and, particularly, the gateway of Waterford city can compete nationally and internationally for foreign direct investment. The strategy includes the provision of world-class property and supporting infrastructure of scale in the Waterford city area. Enterprise Ireland delivers a wide range of supports to Irish companies. The supports are targeted at the specific requirements of clients in all regions, including Waterford, to ensure that they develop to their full potential in terms of employment, innovation and exports and, in turn, stimulate job creation.

Enterprise Ireland, which recognises the significant changes presented by the current state of the economy, has prepared a new recovery strategy. The strategy involves the management of the enterprise stabilisation fund, which provides €100 million to help viable but vulnerable companies to overcome the current economic difficulties. The Waterford city and county enterprise boards serve the Waterford region by providing support for the micro-enterprise sector in the start-up and expansion phases, promoting and developing indigenous micro-enterprise potential and stimulating economic activity and entrepreneurship throughout the county. The stimulation of entrepreneurship can positively contribute to job creation by leading to the establishment of viable growth-orientated businesses.

The Government is acutely aware of the negative impact unemployment can have on individuals, families and society as a whole. It has invested substantial resources to address this problem. In 2009, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment is investing €1 billion in a range of labour force activation measures to assist the unemployed. For example, the Department and FÁS have put in place measures to double their capacity to deal with the increase in live register referrals from the Department of Social and Family Affairs. The implementation of these measures has increased the annual referral capacity to 147,000 people this year.

Since the end of 2008, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, through FÁS, has almost doubled its provision of training and work experience activation places for the unemployed. Over 128,000 such places are available to assist those who have lost their jobs. The places are available on a broad range of programmes, including FÁS specific skills training courses, bridging foundation traineeships and newer programmes such as the work placement programme. The latter programme offers a six-month work placement to unemployed people, while allowing them to retain their social welfare payments. All the programmes are available and being delivered in County Waterford.

To date in 2009, FÁS employment services in Waterford have placed over 1,000 people in employment, education and training courses. FÁS has provided guidance and training to 420 redundant Waterford Crystal employees since January 2009. There has been considerable engagement between the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and the management of Waterford Crystal on the payment of the outstanding amounts. I pay tribute to the team in the insolvency unit, which has dealt with this matter as constructively as possible. I assure Deputy O'Shea that a great deal of work is taking place to ensure that those payments are made. I will continue to update him on the progress being made in that regard. The Government remains committed to meeting the ongoing challenges in the labour market. In addition to specific training activation measures, the Government will continue to focus on supporting and promoting enterprise development to create new jobs at national and county level. Continuing to support employment creation will be the key determinant in addressing our current unemployment problem. In the interim, we will continue to provide upskilling and reskilling opportunities to those who find themselves out of employment so they will be able to avail of future employment opportunities.

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