Margaret Conlon (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)

I am grateful for the opportunity to speak in this debate. For me and my colleagues in the Government, jobs are at the heart of everything we do. This is a very difficult period. It is a very difficult, life-changing experience to find oneself unemployed. We must ensure that people are retrained and get back into employment. In the short time available to me I will focus on the importance of, and need for, retraining and reskilling people, although my colleague, Deputy Haughey, also focused on this area in his contribution.

Statistics show that the majority of young people who are unemployed have low educational attainment, and 20% of young unemployed people are under 25 years of age. During the Celtic tiger economy many of these young people were lured away from education by the attraction of a weekly wage, particularly into the construction and retail sectors. The money was very good and they were attracted by it. With the arrival of the downturn, however, they had no qualifications and skills, so it was bound to be extremely difficult for them to find alternative work. The main focus for these young people who now find themselves out of work must be the acquisition of skills to ensure they become employable. Without skills and qualifications, they will end up on the periphery of the labour market. People with qualifications and skills are more likely to be successful in finding a job.

I welcome the initiative of the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment and her Department to fund 147,000 training and work experience places this year. Being unemployed cannot become a way of life. Living on social welfare and State benefits should not and must not be a more attractive option than getting a job. People on social welfare must be encouraged to develop skills for the employment market. We have quite correctly placed FÁS at the heart of microscopic investigations. I believe FÁS must become more relevant for the clients it serves. However, there are many excellent people throughout the country working for FÁS and giving tremendous service at local level to provide the unemployed with opportunities to ensure they will secure employment in the future.

The Ceann Comhairle is indicating that I must conclude. Education has a major role to play. Many people are seeking to pursue third and fourth level education and I welcome the fact that the institutes of technology and the universities project an increase of 4.5% in education over last year. People have the desire to acquire new skills. Nobody of 25 years who secures a job today will be doing the same job when they retire. People will change their career paths and will need to reskill and retrain. I believe that should be a lifelong experience because we must maintain the reputation we have earned for producing the brightest and the best, and be ready to embrace the upturn when it comes.

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