Brendan Ryan (Labour)

I welcome the Minister of State to the House to discuss this very important matter. We must have a skills drive for people who have lost their jobs and those who may be in vulnerable sectors of the economy. The current financial difficulties, massive unemployment and impending social crisis demand immediate attention and action. Action on reskilling and upskilling of workers must be taken to expand education and training opportunities, especially for further, adult and third level education and training opportunities. Investment in education and training must be a Government priority if Ireland is to recover from the current economic crisis, regain competitiveness in the labour market, avert high social welfare dependency and prevent deepening poverty.

The Central Statistics Office figures released yesterday indicate there were 412,400 people on the live register at the end of October. Nearly 85,000 are under 25 years of age. Youth unemployment is a social time-bomb. If young people are condemned to a pattern of long-term unemployment in their teens and early 20s, it is particularly difficult for them to emerge from that. The Government must increase very significantly the number of education and training options for young unemployed people. The Minister of State spoke about the work placement programme. How many, if any, of such places are ring-fenced for the under-25 age group? The work placement programme announced last May by the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Mary Coughlan, and the Minister for Social and Family Affairs, Deputy Mary Hanafin, was originally heralded as an opportunity to offer unemployed graduates receiving jobseeker's allowance valuable work experience for a fixed term of six months. This scheme was introduced on 1 August. Why is the requirement to have been in receipt of jobseeker's allowance for a six-month period so critical? Is there not a case to be made for shortening that period, perhaps to three months? I am interested to know the reason for having that condition, such as it is.

Regarding the 2,000 work placements offered to potential candidates nationwide, to which the Minister of State referred, two streams exist, as he indicated. One thousand placements are to go to graduates and 1,000 to people other than graduates. Obviously, these are difficult fiscal times. Considering the scale of the problem, are those numbers sufficient to do more than scratch at the surface of the problem? To what extent are the streamed offers being taken up? Is flexibility allowed for moving between the streams? Are there any issues in this regard? I would be interested to hear the Minister of State's comments.

This highlights the dismal performance of this Government to date in providing real options for young unemployed people. I listened to the Minister of State's list but the key point is whether it is enough. We are in difficult times but must look for creative ways and measures to deal with this problem. Paying potential workers unemployment benefit is dead money and a considerable waste of resources. I am sure the Minister of State realises this. That money could be an investment in the education and upskilling of the potential workforce. Clearly, an innovative and coherent plan is needed urgently to tackle the rising rate of unemployment, especially among school leavers and college graduates about whom we have talked already.

The Minister of State mentioned there were 31,000 places at post-leaving certificate, PLC, level. However, a cap was put on that figure. The cost of providing extra places is probably marginal and it is questionable whether limiting places in this way can be justified. In addition, a cap was placed on vocational training. Why do these caps make sense when the fixed costs are already in place in the form of teachers, buildings in some cases and so on?

Since international evidence indicates that investment in formal training has significant returns for the individual, that investment is more important now than ever if we are to provide any kind of response to the skills deficit in the workforce.