Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

They have set up structures for assisting the recruitment of people from Tús. The Deputy does not seem to understand the problems of somebody who becomes long-term unemployed, particularly a young man in his mid-twenties. Six months becomes two or three years as, unfortunately, has happened to many people who worked so hard during the building boom. Their capacity and commitment to hard work is not in doubt, but they lost their jobs in an industry that collapsed. We must use all our ingenuity to help those who have had that unfortunate experience to get back to work. If they only self select or only scheme sponsors select them, how do we get to the people who have been at home for four or five years and give them an opportunity to get back to work?

Many of the people in Tús, whom I meet regularly, go back to education or take up other employment. Increasingly, they take up places on CE schemes, so they make progress. I look forward to local authorities participating in helping their fellow citizens back to work.

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