Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

-----is the problem of people who are out of work. The figures are creeping up to half the people out of work being out of work on a long-term basis. We do not want to repeat the mistakes of the past when people were out of work for a long period of time and found it harder to get back into the workforce and the labour market. In particular, I want to ask the Taoiseach what he will do about the number of young people out of work. It is not socially sustainable to have that number of young men on the dole; one in three of the labour force between the ages of 20 and 24 is on the dole. We cannot have that. The Taoiseach has been stating that when everything else is fixed in the economy from somewhere around the corner the Government has turned it will be able to drag people back into employment, but that does not work. The Taoiseach needs to give priority to this but he is not doing so. It is the last thing on the list. The Taoiseach is pursuing a residual theory of employment, that when everything else happens employment will follow. He needs to actively pursue policies that will get people back into employment.

We are coming towards the end of this Dáil session. At the very least before we come back in the autumn, will the Government produce a specific strategy aimed at getting people back to work, in particular addressing the needs of the growing number of people who are long-term employed and the huge number of young people who are out of work?

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