Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail)

I hope the House will not be divided on the Government's amendment. It is possible that, on reflection, the Opposition will decide to support the amendment proposed by this side, which "notes that the number of places being supported under the Community Employment (CE) Programme in 2004 is being maintained at 2003 levels and that the total allocation for employment programmes has been fixed at €351 million which will support up to 25,000 places across the CE, job initiative and social economy schemes". This is quite an achievement in difficult times. The amendment also states that Seanad Éireann "commends the Government on the introduction of a new rural social programme which will create up to 2,500 additional community-related employment places". I will return to this as it is an excellent initiative. It also states that Seanad Éireann:

recognises the important contribution that community employment and other programmes such as job initiative and social economy have made to the provision of services for local community groups and organisations over the past number of years and the clear commitment given by the Government to the ongoing support of such services.

That commitment is very much part of the Government programme. The amendment goes on to state that Seanad Éireann "notes the Government's success to date in dramatically reducing the numbers of persons in long-term unemployment — a key target group of active labour market interventions". Members should note that the percentage of people on unemployment benefit has been dramatically reduced, which is an enormous achievement. No Government has achieved more in this regard.

The amendment further states that Seanad Éireann:

notes the Government's continuing commitment to persons facing the prospect of becoming long-term unemployed through the full roll-out of the employment action plan preventative strategy and also the recent introduction of a high supports process for persons likely to experience severe employability barriers.

It continues that Seanad Éireann:

recognises the flexibility which already exists for older persons on CE. In the case of people aged over 50 years, the three year cap on participation has been removed where people in this age group, having spent three years on the programme, continue to experience difficulties in getting employment; and

notes the considerable time and resources devoted by Government to the review of community employment and other active labour market programmes to allow appropriate and timely responses to the changing labour market and changing needs of vulnerable groups.

That is our amendment to the Fine Gael Party's motion. I am not sure if the Labour Party is supporting the motion, although I have my doubts. I added my name to the motion which went before the Fianna Fáil Parliamentary Party last December, in which the Minister of State, Deputy Fahey, was much involved. It is a feature of the Fianna Fáil Parliamentary Party that we can put forward different motions at party level on the fifth floor, which is a place many people would love to be. Having been out of it for nine years, I was delighted to be back in the parliamentary party offices.