Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

We must distinguish between the gross figure and the net figure and extrapolate the number of people who are not Irish and who are returning to their home countries to provide a more realistic view.

With regard to youth unemployment, of the 68,000 people within the age category to which Deputy Tóibín refers up to 2012, the 15 to 19-year-old category contains 18,500 people who are unemployed, with 49,500 in the category between 21 to 24. The idea of these schemes and the best way to ensure people do not emigrate is to ensure there is a place for people to reskill, retrain or remain within formal education. That gives them the best chance of an opportunity. There is a myriad of schemes, training programmes and educational places doing that at present.

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