Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Acting Chairman has been quite tidy for me up to now.

The Minister cannot believe the answer he has given. He had a considerable track record going into this Department. We have a 30% youth unemployment rate. The rate in Europe is 23%, the common rate having regard to all labour market conditions in Europe. Therefore, have a serious problem, yet we get more words and verbiage. The European Commission does not understand the seriousness of this problem or, if it does, it is doing nothing about it.

When the Minister, together with almost the entire Government, go to Brussels tomorrow, can he emphasise that in Ireland, Spain, Greece and all of the member states the biggest issue to be faced is youth unemployment. Young people are not getting their chance. Deputy Tóibín referred to the brain drain out of this country in terms of emigration. The statistics reveal that 65% of young people now report their principal status as a student compared to 51% four years earlier. People are going down the education route. They are doing many things to avoid becoming an unemployment statistic. We have 306,000 people unemployed in this country, yet big companies tell us they cannot fill vacancies. I ask the Minister why do we not take action in Ireland and put in place an upskilling programme in the IT sector? It would involve the Minister's Department and the Department of Education and Skills. Surely the vacancies that are in the technical sector can be filled by those who are unemployed, particularly those who are classified as youth unemployed.

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