Rónán Mullen (Independent)

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire. Tacaím go mór leis an rún seo ón gComhaontas Glas mar a thacóinn le h-aon rún agus laghdú sa ráta dífhostaíochta mar aidhm dó.

It is very easy to say, and we hear many people saying, that the Government is not doing enough to slow and reverse the increases in the rate of unemployment. Regardless of whether it is doing enough, it is clear the response to the national economic collapse and the consequent job crisis must be seen to have urgency, focus and a clear sense of direction. It is one area where style matters almost as much as substance. It is one thing to have a plan, but it is vital to communicate properly the sense that there is understanding at the highest level of the scale of the crisis, that there is a clear plan to address the challenges we, as a nation, face and that the conviction and the skills to implement the plans exist.

We need to understand what we are facing. Ireland, like everywhere else, has been a victim of the global credit crunch. However, the Irish case has been exacerbated by a property market bubble and reckless lending policies which have brought the banks to the verge of ruin. The bursting of the property bubble has led, as we all know, to the collapse of employment, not only in the building trade but across the professions, especially those which had become dangerously dependent on the sector. When one factors in the severe depreciation of sterling vis-À-vis the euro, which has made Irish exports to the UK far more expensive, and the obvious unpleasant reality that this hit small, indigenous Irish exporters who are still dependent on the UK as their major market very hard, in short, the Irish economy has been hit by the perfect economic storm.

It is important to grasp not just the sheer size and force of the storm but the speed at which it hit. All the indications are that the Irish economy fell off a cliff in or around April 2008. The speed is important because it has meant it has been very difficult for companies to adjust to the rapidly changing business environment and many, as we know, have failed to do so and have gone to the wall.

The speed with which the crisis came about demands a similar speed in the response of the Government, but it is a political argument as to whether there has been a sufficiently speedy response to date.

To be fair to the Government, when it has not been back-pedalling following some hastily thought out initiative, it has taken some worthwhile measures. I welcome recent announcements that the Government will spend €250 million on job protection on a "temporary employment subsidy scheme". However, the job subsidy will only apply to 30,000 workers in the first instance, giving them €200 per week for 15 months. I also welcome the announcement by the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe, that unemployed workers will have access to 2,500 new places on part-time undergraduate and postgraduate courses from September, as part of the Government's efforts to retrain and upskill the labour force.

I respectfully point out, however, that we are only talking about 2,500 places, at a time when a record 372,800 people are signing on for jobseeker's benefit. While €250 million may sound like a lot of money, when one recalls that the Government spent €220 million on the ill-fated PPARs project, we see it in a different perspective. One cannot help thinking the Government is applying a sticking plaster to what is a gaping wound. I do not wish to be mealy-mouthed about it and I commend the Green Party on the focus on education and reskilling in the motion before the House.

Most commentators have been struck by the fact that the recession is hitting the professions and the middle classes very hard, but what is most remarkable is the impact of the recession on youth unemployment, specifically among young men. Seán Ó Riain, the NUI Maynooth sociologist, recently pointed out that in the latest quarterly national household survey the major trend that stands out is the disastrous collapse in working class employment, with growing differences between the position of those with third level education and those without it. While employment for those with third level education has remained stable over the past year, the collapse for all others has been in the range of 10% to 20%. Unemployment has increased for those with third level education, but employment has largely held up. In plain English, it still pays to have a degree. While the pain is being felt all around, the sectoral, occupational and educational data point to the particularly disastrous short-term and long-term effects of the recession on those in manual and service occupations.

In 2008 Tom Boland, the CEO of the HEA, urged young people working in the construction sector, many of whom had left school without a qualification, to think seriously about returning to full-time education. It is now obvious the issue he identified as a problem has come to pass. The jobs in construction have indeed disappeared and are very unlikely to return. Therefore, we need as a matter of urgency to put in place a major scheme to attract and facilitate young people back into full-time education to ensure they have the skills for future employment. That means a lot more than 2,500 places. We are talking about multiples of that number if we are to have a realistic impact on the problem.

Some time ago, Dr. Ronnie O'Toole stated that he believed that the downturn in the construction sector would have a far more negative impact on rural Ireland because in many cases the construction sector was the only major employer in the regions. There is plenty of anecdotal evidence to support this view. For that reason, we must look not only at providing more educational places, but also at putting in some structured form of distance education because one of the major disincentives to taking up full-time education is the cost of renting and living away from home. If we are really serious about getting large numbers of people to go back to full-time education, we should be looking at new and innovative ways of delivering education to the people where they need it rather than delivering the people to the educational system.

Anois, mar achoimre ar an méid adúirt mé, luaigh mé ceist na tuaithe agus ceist an oideachais. Bliain ó shin, mhol Tom Boland ón HEA do dhaoine óga a bhí ag obair sa tionscal tógála agus a d'fhág an scoil gan aon cháilíocht a bheith acu dul ar ais san oideachas go lán-aimseartha. Is cinnte go raibh an ceart aige, mar tá postanna sa tionscal tógála imithe anois. Caithfear scéim a chur ar fáil a mheallfaidh daoine óga ar ais ag an oideachas go lán-aimseartha le go mbeidh na scileanna acu don fhostaíocht amach anseo. Ciallaíonn sin go mbeidh gá le i bhfad níos mó ná 2,500 áit traenála nó oideachais ann dóibh. Ba chóir caint ar i bhfad níos mó d'áiteanna ná sin má táimid chun dul i ngleic leis an fhadhb seo.

Maidir le ceist na tuaithe, is cinnte go raibh áiteanna faoin tuath ag braith i bhfad níos mó ar an tionscal tógála nááiteanna eile. Mar sin, má tá muid chun dul i ngleic le fadhb na dífhostaíochta faoin tuath, caithfimid cinntiú go mbeidh oideachas ar fáil ní amháin sna coláistí ach ar fáil do dhaoine faoin tuath in ionaid sna bailtí gar dóibh - go mbeidh distance education ann dóibh. Ceann de na fadhbanna is mó atá ag na daoine seo ná an costas atá ar tithe a thógaint ar cíos agus a bheith ag maireachtáil i bhfad ón bhaile. Caithfear scéimeanna a chur ar fáil a thabharfaidh deis do dhaoine faoin tuath tabhairt faoin oideachas arís le go mbeidh na scileanna acu don fhostaíocht sa mheántéarma agus san fhadtéarma.