Deirdre Clune (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 70: To ask the Minister for Enterprise; Trade and Innovation the way he intends to provide more employment opportunities for unemployed graduates; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36683/10]

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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The Government is pursuing a whole of enterprise approach to employment creation through support for Irish firms and winning foreign direct investment to sustain and expand job opportunities. Many jobs that are being created are providing employment opportunities for our graduates.

My Department's agencies are playing, and will continue to play, a key role in this regard. For example, the IDA has already won 75 investments this year spread around the country, with a good mix of new companies starting up and expansions of existing companies. Enterprise Ireland has supported client companies in winning new exports and has announced 700 new jobs so far this year. SFI is engaged with a range of innovative Irish and multinational companies and is investing €45 million in supporting more than 300 researchers. In the next six months SFI will support three competency centres, a new energy research centre and collaborate with 88 companies to deliver sustainable jobs into the future. The county enterprise boards are supporting existing small business owners and those who want to start new businesses.

The enterprise agencies are all taking a range of actions to support client companies in ways best suited to their needs, that is, marketing, training, access to finance and advice across a range of issues. In addition to these initiatives, Enterprise Ireland operates the graduates 4 international growth programme. The programme aims to place 50 top-level college graduates with ambitious internationally trading companies. Participants will be based for a minimum of 12 months in an overseas market. Enterprise Ireland also operates the international graduate programme through which it employs 15 graduates for two years in its overseas office network. I am examining how we can increase the number of graduates working with the enterprise agencies and their client companies.

The Department of Education and Skills offers the work placement programme which provides up to nine months work experience to 1,000 unemployed graduates. At the end of September 2010, 944 graduates had commenced their placements under this programme. The work placement programme will continue to provide a vital opportunity for unemployed graduates to gain valuable work experience that will keep them closer to the labour market and will assist them in securing employment in the future.

Other initiatives which support job creation include the employer jobs - PRSI - incentive scheme and the three-year corporate and capital tax exemption for new start-up companies in 2010. We are positioning Ireland to be successful in selling our goods and services abroad, winning global investment and attracting visitors from around the world. This is the most effective way to create sustainable, quality jobs for all our citizens. It has been estimated that there will be a need to recruit up to 96,000 people on average every year up to 2014.

Deirdre Clune (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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My question refers to graduates in particular. The Minister mentioned three initiatives in his reply, two of them under the remit of Enterprise Ireland, namely, the graduate link which will place 50 graduates and the foreign placements programme under which 15 graduates are employed. Representatives of the USI appeared before a meeting of the Joint Committee on Enterprise, Trade and Employment yesterday, which is chaired by Deputy Penrose. We were told there are currently 100,000 unemployed graduates. The piecemeal figures the Minister has provided today are only a drop in the ocean in terms of what is required. Could he not use his imagination and initiative to extend the internship programme to ensure that organisations in the public, private and voluntary sectors take on these graduates? A major investment that has been made in these people in terms of their education but the economy will be at the loss of many of them who will go aboard and many more of them depend on jobseeker's allowance.

These graduates are of value. Something can be done to assist them. The work placement programme could be extended. Can the Minister not have some ambition in this area? The relationship with FÁS in terms of the placing these people was described as abysmal by the representatives of USI yesterday, and I would agree with them.

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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We all are concerned about graduates coming out of college and not having employment and we are all anxious to help address this situation. We are examining a series of initiatives in regard to this matter. The internship programme would be a matter for the Department of Education and Skills but my Department and the Department of Social Protection would have an input into that. I have spoken to people in all my units to ascertain how many graduates could be taken into the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. I have asked them to produce a list of the types of graduates who could be offered places. However, one significant difficulty has emerged which has stopped me from proceeding with this initiative. If one is talking about graduates being placed and retaining their unemployment assistance, there is no problem in that instance, but the problem is that for many graduates there will be a cost in getting to work and in being at work.

Deirdre Clune (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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To how many graduates will the programme apply? IBEC's GradLink programme accommodates only 38 graduates, which is a drop in the ocean when one considers there are 100,000 graduates. These programmes need to be ramped up because progress is much too slow. Graduates from 2010 have now joined 2009 graduates in the employment market. What are the Department's targets in terms of the number of graduates who can be accommodated under the programmes?

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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I will obtain an estimate of the number of graduates but the figure is certainly not 100,000. There are placements available for graduates. In the past week, I took the trouble of speaking to two recruitment agencies, one of which informed me that recruitment had increased by 26% in retail, wholesale and purchasing, by 21% in production, manufacturing and materials, by 12% in engineering and utilities and by 12% in the medical, professional and health care areas.

Deirdre Clune (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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With what year is the Minister making a comparison?

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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Another agency informed me that professional recruitment had increased in the third quarter by 40% as compared to the third quarter of 2009. We should not forget that a significant number of jobs are being created.