Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 85 and 99 together.

Research evidence shows that early and prolonged periods of unemployment during a person’s lifetime can have a permanent scarring effect on that person’s capacity to improve his or her standard of living. This is a particular problem during an economic downturn as young people tend to suffer the impact of job losses more than any other age group. It is estimated that approximately 7.5 million young people are neither in education, employment or training - the so-called NEETs group - across the EU.

This is an issue that needs urgent and concerted attention at an EU level and one that the Irish Government identified as a core agenda item of the Irish EU Presidency.

Under my chairmanship, the Council of Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Ministers, known as EPSCO, last week agreed a recommendation on an EU-wide youth guarantee. The EPSCO recommendation is that each member state should ensure that young people receive a quality offer of employment, continued education, an apprenticeship or traineeship within four months of becoming unemployed, subject to registering with the unemployment services in their own country. The recommendation will now move to be considered for formal adoption by the Council at a later stage in Ireland's Presidency, most likely in May.

The recommendation encourages member states to implement its provisions as soon as possible once it is formally adopted. It is also recognised that implementation will need to be more gradual in countries with higher levels of youth unemployment and particularly severe budgetary problems.

In anticipation of the formal adoption of the recommendation, the Government will review the current range of youth employment and training policies in Ireland to assess what measures will need to be taken to commence the gradual implementation of the guarantee. In the budgetary negotiations, a sum of €6 billion over the lifetime of the multi-annual financial framework has been set aside, the first time that this has been done for this specific heading. Although this is not as much money as I would have liked, it is, in itself, is a progressive step.

It is hoped this framework pathway for young people to get education, training and, ultimately, employment will be the beginning of a sustained downward movement in youth unemployment as the economy recovers. Even so, the implementation of a guarantee will certainly require an expansion in the range of opportunities currently on offer to young people in the form of further education, training, internships, subsidised private sector recruitment and supports for self-employment.

In this regard, the State already provides a significant number of places which are available to young people. The Department of Social Protection took steps in budget 2013 to increase funding and places for schemes such as JobBridge, community employment, Tús and a new State employment scheme in the local government sector. In total, an additional 10,000 places will be provided. The Department of Education also made provision for the new momentum programme which is providing 6,500 new training places, many of which will be taken up by young people. A new recruitment incentive, JobsPlus, has also been developed by my Department and was approved by the Government as part of the Action Plan for Jobs. This incentive will cover the cost of employers' PRSI contributions. The current period is 18 months and that will be extended.

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