Seán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this pre-budget debate. I will mention some of the initiatives in which I am involved as Minister of State with responsibility for lifelong learning. The Government's proposed four-year budgetary strategy, which will last until 2014, has been the subject of widespread commentary in recent days. The Government moved swiftly yesterday to reveal the amount of money involved in the planned correction. It is conscious that the financial markets now expect significant reductions in this country's deficit. If we fail to deliver those reductions, it will have negative consequences for the economy, including high interest rates.

The creation and protection of jobs is a political priority for the Government. The four pillars of our approach to the jobs issue are as follows: activation measures, employment schemes, training and upskilling; the promotion of exports and inward investment; the targeting of improved competitiveness and productivity; and reductions in the cost of doing business. There is a consensus among the major political parties about the need to achieve the 3% deficit target by 2014. If we are to demonstrate to the international community that we are competent to manage our own affairs, it is of the utmost importance that we plan for this deadline.

The projected growth in the economy is not expected to be as positive as previously forecast. Consumer demand is likely to be affected as personal households and businesses prepare to save scarce resources or reduce personal debt. Tax revenues might not be as buoyant in future years as we previously anticipated. Despite these uncertainties, the Government is committed to restoring sustainability to the public finances in order to underpin future economic growth and recovery.

Unemployment, which continues to impinge on families in this State, remains a political priority for the Government. Unemployment is an attack on self-esteem. A lack of employment opportunities can lead to heartbreak and hardship for people who are out of work, regardless of whether they are young or old, married or single. As the level of unemployment increases, it has a double impact on the public finances. Not only does the income tax take decrease as the number of people in work declines, but the number of people who depend on State unemployment payments and other allied benefits increases, which places a huge strain on limited Government resources.

I wish to concentrate on aspects of my ministerial responsibility, such as training and upskilling, that are relevant to this debate. I will also outline the steps the Government is taking in this respect to tackle the unemployment crisis. Following the Taoiseach's restructuring of Government Departments, responsibility for the training aspects of FÁS has moved to the Department of Education and Skills and is now within my remit. This allows for a more co-ordinated alignment of activation measures and training policy. The Government has moved swiftly to improve the plight of the unemployed. FÁS has introduced measures to double the annual JobSearch referral capacity to 154,000 places per annum. My Department will fund the provision of over 160,000 training and work experience places for the unemployed in 2010. This represents an increase on the 66,000 such places that were provided in 2008.

We are prioritising four categories of the unemployed in order to minimise the drift into long-term unemployment. These are as follows: those who have low skills or education levels; those who have been on the live register for more than a year; those who are under the age of 35; and those who used to be employed in sectors like construction, manufacturing and retail. Employment levels in the three sectors I have mentioned, which have been severely affected by the downturn, are unlikely to return to their previous levels in the short to medium term. Last March, my Department launched the labour market activation fund, which will target the specific priority groups I have mentioned. Following a tender process which received 370 entries, some 59 organisations in the private, not-for-profit and public sectors successfully secured funding. The organisations in question will provide up to 12,000 training places.

An additional 500 community employment training places were announced earlier this year, bringing the number of places that are available to 23,300. Community employment is designed to give the long-term unemployed and other disadvantaged people an opportunity to engage in useful work in their communities on a fixed-term basis. The programme helps the unemployed to return to the labour market by breaking their experience of unemployment and giving them a work routine. It helps them to enhance and develop their technical and personal skills. This year, Skillnets and FÁS will provide almost 10,400 training places to the unemployed and those on short hours.

The issue of youth unemployment is of particular concern. In light of the increase in the number of unemployed people who are under the age of 25, the Government has decided this category will receive preferential access to State supports such as FÁS employment and training services. This agency is prioritising services for the under 25s and an initiative has been put in place to immediately activate measures for 18 to 19 year olds without needing to wait the usual three months for automatic activation. The main provision continues to be at community training centres and VECs under the Youthreach programme. Some €110 million is being invested in Youthreach and will provide 6,000 places.

The work placement programme provides up to nine months work experience to 2,000 unemployed persons, including graduates. The Government also introduced a range of measures that will enable 4,000 redundant apprentices to progress their apprenticeships. Among these are 30 apprentices formerly employed by SR Technics who are being taken on by the Air Corps to complete phases five and seven of the on-the-job training element of their apprenticeships. I am delighted this specialist branch of the Defence Forces has had the vision and willingness to engage in partnership with FÁS to initiate this programme.

An estimated 166,000 learners, including those who are unemployed, will benefit from full-time and part-time further education opportunities. The total number of full-time enrolments in universities and institutes of technology will be in excess of 140,000 this year. Investment in further education provided by the VECs has increased by 60% between 2002 and 2010 to €426 million, enabling 170,000 learners to participate in a range of part-time and full-time courses in 2009. An additional 1,500 new places were provided on post-leaving certificate courses from September 2009, bringing the total number of places nationwide to 31,688. Adult literacy is extremely important in this context and the budget for that is now €30 million.

The back to education allowance is very important for those wishing up-skill and reskill and return to education and training. There are approximately 21,000 people in receipt of the back to education allowance.

The European globalisation fund is another imaginative fund being utilised in an Irish context. The Government is moving to reskill redundant workers formerly employed in large-scale operations by availing of EU co-financing support under the European globalisation adjustment fund. In recent weeks, I was able to announce that up to €11.5 million in funding will be available for former workers in SR Technics for measures implemented since their redundancies. An application for the construction sector, based on 8,000 workers and for €63 million, was submitted in June 2010 to the European Commission.

The Government is acutely aware that positive measures to promote employment are essential if economic recovery is to proceed sooner rather than later. If we have learned anything from the 1980s, it must surely be that selected developmental measures to stimulate the economy must run parallel to any programme to tackle the crisis in the public finances. The national skills strategy and the activation and training measures outlined also have an important role to play if the economy is to recover quickly.

The Government has already shown it has the capacity and resolve to address our current economic difficulties. Since July 2008 budgetary savings of €14.4 billion have been achieved. Positive growth has been forecast for 2011. Economic recovery will lead to a strong export performance, which continues to exceed expectations. That we face intimidating difficulties is not disputed but this Government, led by the Taoiseach, has shown that it is ready and willing to meet the tough economic challenges. It has moved to take corrective action, it has the drive and commitment to implement further necessary measures and it will not be influenced by short-term political or any other sectional considerations.

The Government continues to put the country first and I have no doubt history will judge that it is doing the right thing at the right time and in a forthright and fair-minded manner. The Government remains committed to its budgetary strategy to protect our economy for future generations. It will not be deflected from its course of action.

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