Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I must point out to the Taoiseach that he keeps claiming credit for things in which he had no involvement. In his reply to Deputy Creighton's question, he said that the Government took difficult decisions. In fact, he opposed two thirds of all the actions of the former Minister for Finance, the late Brian Lenihan, in his budgets to correct the deficit. He opposed every one of them, suggested that there was an alternative approach and then tried to claim credit for it. The same is true of the Action Plan for Jobs. The OECD carried out an analysis and confirmed that no specific claims for job creation can be made for the plan but the Taoiseach makes the claims anyway.

I was very disappointed with the Taoiseach's reply because there is no flesh on the bone in terms of attracting people back from abroad. Let us take three areas where the Government has direct control in terms of the public service alone. Mention has been made of low graduate pay. I met a woman the other day whose daughter is completing her midwifery course. There is no job available for her. Agency staff are given priority over young nurses coming out of college. That is why that apart from trying to attract people back, students are continuing to emigrate because they do not see prospects in key careers like health and education. Let us take second level teachers. A student who has completed the HDip does not have employment prospects in second level education. I was involved in helping a person over the years who e-mailed me the other day to say that it has taken her 12 years to get a contract of indefinite duration - the CID, as it is known. This is not a permanent, full-time job. It is a contract of indefinite duration. There is a real crisis in attracting young people into second level teaching because of the slow pathways in terms of progression.

The Taoiseach spoke about a national talent drive. They are all election slogans. The return from abroad is an election slogan and the Taoiseach's replies confirm it. Did he read the recent letter from the leading scientists in the country in The Irish Times? In it, they stated that there is no career pathway for young researchers or scientists in this country. This has been stated by all the key researchers and by the Irish Federation of University Teachers. It is a critical issue. They cannot get mortgages. There is also the issue of low-hour contracts for people seeking employment in retail or elsewhere. They cannot get mortgages and car loans because they do not have any security of tenure and the requisite hours and pay to enable them to have a reasonable quality of life. These are the key structural issues in terms of how young people are dealt with in the employment market. It is a significant catalyst for young people to go abroad and seek work elsewhere where they can do far better. Examples would be Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The number of young teachers out there illustrates the point I am making. If the Taoiseach wants to bring people back, he needs to put flesh on the bone in terms of career pathways, quality of employment and terms and conditions for young graduates that are on a par with everybody else

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