Ivor Callely (Fianna Fail)

I ask the Leader to clarify the position regarding young people in the 14 to 16 age category who may or may not be deemed to be troubled or who run into some form of difficulty at school and on making a fresh application to another school experience some difficulties in getting back into the education system. I ask the Leader to find out from the Department of Education and Science the protocols for leaving school under the age of 16 and re-enrolling in another school, particularly where the child may be seen as troublesome. The Tánaiste might be asked to outline the procedures when a person wishes to enrol in training and upskilling programmes.

I support Senator Fitzgerald's call to have the appropriate Minister in the House next week. The Senator portrayed a situation which was dark and gloomy, with the lights going out. I have a more optimistic view of where we have been and where we are and I have a certain confidence in the system. While I accept the unemployment figures Senator Fitzgerald outlined, I recall that for a number of years we have been creating 1,000 new jobs every week. We should look at both sides of the picture and see what we are creating. There are approximately 2 million people gainfully employed in Ireland today. I pay tribute to those in the Departments and State agencies such as Enterprise Ireland, IDA and other bodies who did trojan work in a very competitive field to get Ireland where it is in terms of employment. Let us acknowledge that we are in difficult times and must re-focus. I have every confidence we can meet the challenges in the competitive field in the 12 or 24 months ahead.