Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

I will take the last question first. The working method is to have both. Nine Departments have conversations and discussions with the troika on a continuing basis and when they come to do their reviews in Dublin, just as they report on a continuing basis. The co-ordinating Departments for dealing with the troika are the two finance Departments which oversee the process.

On the single working age payment and roll-out of activation opportunities, I agree with the Deputy that there are commitments in regard to both in respect of the end of the first quarter of 2012, which were signalled when the original structure of the adjustment programme was put in place. We will meet that deadline. Obviously, the most important one is that in the context of the €1 billion, to which I referred earlier, being spent on various employment supports ranging from the two scheme to CE schemes to back to education allowances, it is important to give as many people who are unemployed as much opportunity as possible to take part in appropriate options, opportunities and training and that they are spread as widely as possible among those who are at risk of becoming long-term unemployed.

In regard to the activation programme, next week I will launch with the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and the Department of Education and Skills a programme on the options, opportunities and structures of helping people to engage with the system in terms of getting back to work, back to education and back to training.

Deputy Ó Snodaigh asked about jobs. The jobs initiative, launched by the Government in May 2011, has produced good and significant responses from employers particularly in the area of tourism from various parts of the country, including the west. I am pleased that JobBridge, the national internship scheme that I launched in July 2011, has had a huge take up from employers. It is interesting that there is a significant demand from people who were not originally in the JobBridge process, such as lone parents and people with a disability, to take part in it. We are looking at that issue. A huge volume of people on the live register on job seekers' allowance are very interested in engaging in opportunities and we must ensure that actually happens. The troika constantly asks questions about this area.

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