Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome that the Minister's ambition is better than that of the Department of Finance. However, can the Minister explain why he is focusing on 6% versus 4.5% in Germany? As Deputy Tóibín has said, the reality is that we still have 88,000 people on activation schemes. We still have another 100,000 part-time workers who are seeking full-time employment and who are in receipt of a payment. We have many people abroad but if they were here, they would be part of that figure. The Minister has dismissed the activation schemes somewhat as not forming part of the jobs plan but most of those 88,000 people are looking for full-time employment. If they are not feeding in to the labour market or providing opportunities for the labour market, then it is an issue the Tánaiste needs to address. As long as the Government continues to exclude them from the overall figures, there is something seriously flawed with our unemployment model.

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