Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)

Are we living in cloud cuckoo land? We are the only economy that has failed to put in place a stimulus package. Some €100 billion has been spent in the United States, with much of it allocated to education and creating employment opportunities for young people. Why do we think we are so special that we do not have to embark on that route? Why do we think we are different? When will we get rid of the barriers in respect of time limits and restrictions for the back to education allowance? This is nonsense. If young people want to get back into education, why not let them do so? How many additional places are there in the vocational training opportunities scheme, VTOS? The Minister of State is sincere and he is here as the mouthpiece of the Government, comprised of 15 Ministers gathered around the Cabinet table. We are fed up with being fobbed off. We need proper, focussed policies. Unless we design a stimulus package, we will come back in 12 months time with the problem accentuated and galloping away. I am extremely worried. Youth unemployment is a timebomb and we should get someone with a unified, co-ordinated strategy for this.

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