Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Like the other speaker, I welcome the initiative. We are in a position where there has been some very marginal improvements in the number of people at work, largely due to 14,000 part-time jobs being created in the past six months. Nevertheless, the number of people under 35 at work continues to fall, which perhaps reflects the fact that emigration is still a feature of the Irish landscape. The Minister mentioned a provisional figure of €6 billion over the life of the programme. How will that break down and what will be our entitlement? What kind of matching funds will the Government have to provide to make the guarantee a reality year after year in the programme?

It is not just a case of guaranteeing a job, and if a person cannot get a job, that person would go into education. The Minister is aware that people who are long-term unemployed, in particular, have been in fourth level education. The Government has cut provision for fourth level education this year and the pupil-teacher ratio has increased from 15 pupils to 17 pupils per teacher. The Teachers Union of Ireland, which represents the teachers providing this type of education, has indicated they will be able to deal with fewer applicants this year.

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