Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 55: To ask the Minister for Enterprise; Trade and Innovation if he has satisfied himself that the measures in place to counter youth unemployment and emigration are adequate; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2909/11]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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The primary objective of my Department is to ensure we have the right policies in place to support and grow our enterprise base to facilitate job creation and job retention. The work of the Department has been proven over the past five days with the announcement of 1,200 new jobs, including a major investment by the Intel corporation which had been sought worldwide.

The policies developed by this Government to accelerate and improve the transition of young people from education into the labour market are based on three main pillars, the first of which is to expand provision in the higher education sector, including full-time and part-time education places, and provide more flexible access to the education system. In 2011, it is expected that 170,000 full-time and part-time further education places and 156,000 full-time higher education places will be provided. The bulk of this provision is open to persons under 25 years of age where they meet the relevant criteria. The creation of a new €20 million higher education activation fund, announced last month by the Tánaiste, will extend the range of upskilling opportunities available for unemployed people.

The re-configuration of Departments announced by the Government in April 2010, which involves the merger of the FÁS public employment service and the benefits agency under the Department of Social Protection, will facilitate a more comprehensive and effective activation strategy that will strengthen the links between getting benefits, searching for a job and participating in employment and training programmes.

There is the enhancing of active labour market policies aimed at young people, including maintaining support for redundant apprentices; responding to the needs of low-skilled or semi-skilled young persons who have limited qualifications; and a strengthened framework of work experience opportunities through the introduction of the new skills development and internship programme and additional placements on the work placement programme.

In summary, the Government will continue to provide a diverse range of labour market activation provision to the unemployed, including those under 25 years of age. This will aim to keep young people active, close to the labour market and equipped to take up the employment opportunities anticipated under the Government's plans to generate 300,000 jobs through trade, tourism and investment by the end of 2015.

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for his reply but he did not answer the central question, namely, whether he believed the measures in place were adequate. When we have seen 165,000 young people under the age of 25 lose their jobs in the past three years and 81,000 people under the age of 25 on the live register, among whom the highest and most rapidly growing group is the long-term unemployed aged under 25 who now constitute 28,000 young people who have been out of work for more than 12 months, how can the Minister pretend that what he has read out is an adequate response? His Department's initiative, the job placement programme-----

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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A question, please.

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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I asked the Minister of State how he could justify what he has said. That is a question.

The total number of places on that programme is 2,500, which is not one in 150 opportunities for people out of work, and there are just 1,000 people on the scheme where employers take on people. These schemes are simply not responding to the scale of the problem. I ask the Minister of State to reconsider the strategy.

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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All of us are very aware of the problem we face. However, it is not just an Irish problem and I remind Deputy Bruton that 1 million people under the age of 25 are unemployed in the UK. We have put in place a direct response, providing for graduate employment and for those without qualifications. Between the skills development and internship programme and the work placement programme, there are more than 12,500 places. We have reorganised FÁS to make it more accessible to younger people, we have changed the apprentice scheme and the Minister, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe, has engaged with multinational employers across the country to encourage them to participate in the schemes.

We have also had some success domestically with schemes such as the ESB scheme, which arose specifically in response to the position of apprentices. By changing the rules under the apprentice training programmes, we have made a direct response to those affected by the construction downturn so they can continue their education and training to have a skills base. While we have a serious problem, there is a focused challenge under way to address it.

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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The Government is not even scratching at the surface. Some 40,000 young Irish people emigrated in the past 12 months. In the past six months, some 400 places have been added to the job placement programme, which is simply not adequate. If we want to retain our talent at home, the Government needs to be much more ambitious in this area and not just trot out those statistics and ignore the fact that we are leaching the most talented people out of this country, when they are the key to building a stronger economy. It is cost-effective to develop initiatives for internships and work experience on a much more ambitious scale.

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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I assure the Deputy that I am not in the business of trotting out statistics. These programmes have been devised specifically as a response to the situation we are in and specifically to give people, including educated people, a chance to gain work experience here and to stay here. None of us likes to see emigration but we have had a consistently high figure of immigration in recent years and these-----

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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The rate is growing by 50% per annum from a very low to an extraordinarily high level.

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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Allow the Minister of State to reply.

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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These programmes have been put in place and are providing a response on the ground. While we would love to be able to put more money into them, it is a question of resources and resource allocation. Resources are being allocated in the most effective way given their availability.