Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

My objective as a Minister is to ensure as far as possible that no young people in society go onto social welfare and that we provide a pathway for young people who may not be able to find work to continue to expand their education and training and to take up training positions and places from among the various options and opportunities we have laid out. I cannot stress enough how important it is that young people should not be encouraged to go on social welfare and that they should be encouraged into an alternative of work and to become involved in education and training, and improving their skills and qualifications so that eventually they can become financially independent.

In the budget, we provided specifically that young people leaving care would have arrangements through the HSE. The homeless unit, in dealing with young people who become homeless, is acutely aware of the difficulties that befall young people in that situation. The focus of public policy should be to encourage such young people into education and training or to take up options for the development of their skills. As I said, if they do that, they then get a full rate of payment - that is what actually applies. I would prefer to avoid sending out any kind of signal that would do other than encourage young people to stay in education and training or go into employment. We do not want young people to find themselves in a position in which they become homeless and then probably enter into a very difficult period in their lives, where their chances of becoming financially independent are limited.

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