Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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1. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the number of training or education places that will be set aside next year as part of the youth guarantee for young persons who are out of work; the number of young persons who will qualify for the youth guarantee scheme at this time; the ratio of her Department case officers to the number of unemployed persons currently; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50875/13]

Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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I am trying to ascertain whether the Government is committed to introducing a full blown youth guarantee scheme in this country whereby everybody who is not more than four months unemployed will be entitled to either a job or a place in training or education and when will the scheme be in place. I am also trying to ascertain whether the ratio of caseworkers to unemployed people has changed since we previously asked questions in the House when the Minister indicated it would change.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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I did not get the first part of the second question.

Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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On the previous occasion the Minister answered questions in the House she indicated the ratio of caseworkers to unemployed people would change and I would like an update.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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During its recent Presidency of the European Union, Ireland prioritised the provision of the EU recommendation on the provision of a youth guarantee under which every young person should be guaranteed an offer of employment, training or further education within a target period of four months of becoming unemployed. Ireland also took the lead in discussions which led to the provision of a €6 billion EU spending provision which is to be front-loaded to cover programmes undertaken in the first two years of the multi-year financial framework, in 2014 and 2015. Ireland took this approach because it is acutely aware that persistently high levels of youth unemployment have a prolonged and disproportionate impact on the lifetime productivity and earnings of the young people concerned. We are in the process of developing a national implementation plan for a youth guarantee in Ireland and expect to forward this plan to the European Commission by the end of the year. The position in Ireland is that approximately 35,500 young people who registered for unemployment payments in 2012 remained wholly unemployed for four months or more, the threshold referred to in the EU recommendation on a youth guarantee. A significant number of young people also leave the register in the fifth or sixth month of unemployment. Trends in 2013 to date suggest the number of new registrants crossing the four month threshold will fall to about 31,000 for the full year. Data included in the most recent quarterly national household survey published by the CSO a few days ago are also encouraging. These showed the rate of youth unemployment, covering those aged 15 to 24 years, decreased from more than 31% to 26.5% over the year to the end of quarter 3 of this year.

I will answer the Deputy's second question as a supplementary.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House.

Places on activation programmes are not generally reserved for a specific age group. Expected take-up by unemployed young people on programmes offering full-time opportunities is expected to be in excess of 27,500 next year. The programmes involved are JobBridge, Tús, community employment and Gateway, JobsPlus, the back to work enterprise allowance, FÁS and SOLAS training for the unemployed, Youthreach and community training centres, MOMENTUM, the back to education allowance, the vocational training opportunities scheme and initiatives related to entrepreneurship and international work experience under consideration in the context of the youth guarantee. These figures do not include young people progressing in the normal way through initial training such as apprenticeships, post-leaving certificate courses and vocationally oriented third level courses, all of which contribute to a guarantee of places for young people leaving second level education.

Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister for the reply but I do not know whether I am any the wiser. Perhaps when I read the record and see what has not been said, I will know. As the Minister well knows, the pledge of €6 billion by the European Union, welcome though it may be, is regarded as totally inadequate. Taking a pledge of €6 billion over a period of seven years, Ireland will receive a very small amount. It is estimated a properly funded youth guarantee scheme, along the lines of what exists in Sweden, under which the four month criterion is met, would cost anything between €300 million and €400 million. My second question to the Minister is whether the Government is prepared to commit the resources, together with what it receives from the EU, to increase the figure to whatever it costs to provide a fully blown youth guarantee scheme to everybody who is unemployed for a period of at least four months and when will the scheme be in place.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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In reply to the second part of the Deputy's first question, there are approximately 300 employment service officers and advisers. This means the ratio of the 315,000 full-time live registrants to employment service officers is just over 1000:1. The good news is a further 300 staff are being re-assigned to these roles as I speak, which will reduce the ratio by half in the absence of any change in the numbers on the live register. As Deputy O'Dea is aware, numbers on the live register are decreasing and the numbers at work for the quarter ended September last increased by 58,000, which when compared with the loss of 300,000 jobs which took place under Fianna Fáil after the guarantee, is a recovery and a turnaround.

Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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When will the youth guarantee scheme be in place? Answer the question.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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With regard to the funds allocated in the context of the youth guarantee overall, Europe has provided €6 billion. The good news from an Irish point of view is it is calculated countries with high levels of youth unemployment, and we qualify because of the crash I spoke about, will receive €64 million over the two- ear period of the front-loading, and the Government will match this. I can go through some of the detail in answer to a further question.

Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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The total of €64 million over two years is €32 million per year, and the Government has committed €14 million for the first year which, added to the €32 million amounts to €46 million. This is way short of what is required. Will the Minister indicate when a properly functioning youth guarantee scheme will be in place? On the previous occasion we had questions the Minister promised she would reduce the ratio. I thought the ratio was 800:1 but it is more than 1,000:1, which is farcical. Now she will reduce it to 500:1, which again is unworkable.

The last day she indicated that this reduction in the ratio was taking place immediately. When is that going to take place? Where are the staff going to come from? There have been indications from the Government that it does not have any budget to employ extra people to do this sort of case work for the unemployed. Will the Minister be taking them from elsewhere in the Department and if so, how will she make up for the deficiencies that will occur there?

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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I will be very happy if the Deputy comes to the opening of the new Intreo office in Limerick before or shortly after Christmas. I am sure he will make himself available to do that. If he does come, he will have a great opportunity to see the new processes and the very good work of the employment services officers.

About 700 were transferred over from the old FÁS employment services to the Department and 1,000 people were transferred from the community welfare service. Those people have much experience from their old jobs of interviewing and dealing with people on an case by case basis. Some of them will also be dealing with employers, because we are going out knocking on doors to get people jobs and tell employers about the very good schemes we have established, like JobsPlus, which is an employer subsidy. That resource is in train at the moment-----

Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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So they are all being reallocated from within the Department.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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-----and I look forward to inviting the Deputy to the new Limerick offices.

Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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We are over time. Thank you Minister.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The first part of the conversion has almost been completed.