John Deasy (Waterford, Fine Gael)

The statistics for my constituency, Waterford, with regard to under-25s unemployed are as follows: in the Dungarvan area it has increased by 146.5% over the last two years while the figure for Waterford city, although a little better, is at about 90%, which is still a big figure.

In the last couple of days I have attended a few meeting on job creation. One was with the city manager and his officials yesterday. Another was with an accountancy firm trying to promote entrepreneurs in the city of Waterford. Today I had a meeting with a very successful community development group. One issue has arisen again and again, namely, that there is serious doubt, which I share, as to whether the State agencies tasked with retraining and job creation have adapted, or can adapt, to the economic crisis. I have to ask why it is Waterford City Council that is putting together a small business loan scheme and co-ordinating the different agencies dealing with job creation in the city. The answer is that no one else seems willing to do so.

More significant, however, is the issue of how individual agencies are dealing with unemployment issues. In some cases they are dealing with them in the same manner as they were two or three years ago. I do not see any sense of urgency within some elements of local government and especially in State agencies. In the boom years these agencies multiplied. They grew bigger, wages increased within them, better properties were rented and in some cases such as FÁS they lost sight of their original purpose. At the heads of these agencies we need risk takers, people with business acumen and commercial experience. Instead, this Government has promoted risk averse individuals, bureaucrats and generally safety-first merchants who-----

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