Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

Will the Taoiseach comment on the live register figures? I listened to the Minister of State say this morning that they were down by 12,000 and that this was an indication that things had bottomed out. The FÁS quarterly economic commentary shows that the number of professionals seeking employment has risen by 84% this year, that one third of men in their early 20s are now out of work and the number of apprentices entering the workforce is down by 60%. In the year to April more than 18,000 Irish nationals emigrated. It is clear also that 30,000 people from eastern Europe have returned to their homelands.

It seems as if the Government's strategy to deal with the unemployment situation is to switch on the tap of emigration and to facilitate longer stays in education. Will the Taoiseach comment on that? Will he indicate what is the Government's jobs strategy to deal with a situation where the live register is clearly indicative of a rising emigration trend and, as Deputy English pointed out the other day, we are again faced with the probability of losing an entire generation of young Irish people to emigration? Will the Taoiseach comment on the figures and indicate what is the jobs strategy of the Government to deal with the issue?

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