Seanad debates

Thursday, 21 November 2002

Book of Estimates, 2003: Statements.

 

A Member spoke earlier about FÁS which was established to look after the long-term unemployed. The LES scheme was introduced in Dublin in the mid-1990s to look after the long-term unemployed. There are four LES offices in Blanchardstown where the unemployment rate has fallen drastically. As a business person who operates in Blanchardstown and who has gone to FÁS each year, I have failed to get an applicant through LES or FÁS. I get phone calls from recruitment agencies in Lithuania where people see the same jobs advertised by FÁS in Dublin. When one rings the LES offices in Dublin, the first question one is asked is whether the job on offer is full-time and permanent. That is the philosophy under which these public service offices operate.

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