Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

The whole work placement scheme has been completely revised because when it was launched with very good intent, employers came back to us with the case that if they were an employer of fewer than ten people, they would be unable to take someone on but now it has been changed and they will be able to do so. We have shortened the length of time which a person has to be on the live register and we have lengthened the time in which a person can participate in the scheme. The new criteria will facilitate many more employers to take on people and many more young people to participate in the scheme. A young person of 22 to 24 years will receive €150 a week while on the live register but if they participate in either the education training or that work placement scheme, then they will get the full rate.

Deputy Kenny raised an important point about young people who may have basic literacy skills and who are not able to participate in the same level of training as others. We are very conscious of this point. I saw a very practical example in Limerick and I have asked that it be extended elsewhere. The local employment service, FÁS, and the local departmental office co-operated to profile and streamline the people who needed education and training. Instead of sending to the local employment service the 40-year old man who was well educated along with the 18-year old who had basic literacy skills, the local employment service took 18 to 19 year olds, the young people, and targeted a course for them. Deputy Jan O'Sullivan may be familiar with this arrangement. This is the type of co-operation which is now spreading throughout the country, although I accept it should have been established before this, to target people in the right direction.

Extra courses have been made available for the coming year in education and training. One of the good things about an 18 year old only receiving €100 is that it is a real disincentive for a young person to go automatically onto the live register. Contrary to what Deputy Lee thought last night, a person with a work record and who qualifies for jobseeker's benefit gets the full rate. We are talking here about young people who have never worked, who have no connection with the workforce. It is wrong to say a person who may have been working from the time he or she was 17 will only receive €150 at age 24; such a person will receive the full rate. That is also the situation if the person has a dependent child. It is a real disincentive for an 18 year old to go onto the live register if he or she is only going to be given €100. It is a real incentive for them to continue and take up one of the 30,000 places that are on the post-leaving certificate courses. It is a real incentive for them to take up one of the 45,000 first-year places in higher education. It is a real incentive for them to participate in youthreach and all the other schemes. For that reason alone, we could all point to families where fathers have taken the 18 year old young fellow and trotted him down to the social welfare office and advised him to follow on in a great family tradition. That is the type of cycle we are trying to break here.

Deputy Burton in particular asked about the national training fund, the new €20 million which is being provided. She asked a specific question and I think she will be pleased with the answer. We are looking for innovative proposals from the private sector and from the public sector to make extra provision for the unemployed. This is expected to provide about 3,500 additional training places. It is being targeted at the low skilled, at the under-35s and at those who were formerly employed in the construction, retail, and manufacturing sectors-----

See this speech in context