Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

That is a valid question. I will ask the Minister for Education and Skills to provide the answer as to why FÁS has not been in a position to produce its end of year report by June. Deputy Ross is right that it should be in a position to do so. The Minister for Education and Skills will come back with the reasons. The Minister and the Minister of State, Deputy Cannon, met the chief executive officer and the board of FÁS on this issue.

Deputy Ross will be aware that 3,000 places in third level have been offered through the Springboard jobs initiative. The jobs initiative will provide 16,000 places for training. The point was made by the chairman of the board dealing with the jobs initiative and the new internship programme that invariably when businesses in these areas take on young qualified people, even on internships, they find that after a six month period, the young person decides to start a business of his or her own or he or she proves so efficient that the firm hires them full time.

As Deputy Ross knows, what is happening in the laboratories and research units throughout the world is, in many cases, bringing to light new innovations which have not or could not have been thought of because perhaps they were discovered by different sorts of research. When given the opportunity to be exposed to that range of challenge, our young people invariably measure up. I saw this recently at the highest level in some of the major software and multinational companies in the country. It is a case of attempting to be on the next wave which will come. It is happening in terms of robotics, nanotechnology, software, genetics and so on where these changes will be made. Deputy Ross's question is perfectly valid. Flexibility and adaptability are required to give our young people the opportunity to measure up to the challenge from wherever it comes.

See this speech in context