Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

We have the PRSI exemption for employers which we hope will encourage them to take on new graduates and young people who have been on the live register for a few months. That is a real stimulus and incentive for them. The live register is a huge churn in that not all of those on it were on it six months ago. There are opportunities, but, obviously, the better educated one is, the better the opportunities.

I note that in its proposal Fine Gael suggests a disincentive factor for young people who did not participate in courses because it recognises, as does the Government, that these are the people destined to be long-term unemployed. We had various pilot projects to try to encourage young people on the dole into education and training, but because they had probably dropped out of school early, they did not have the skills necessary or a commitment to education and training and because there was no incentive for them to participate in courses, they did not bother. Once one gives a financial incentive, there is a real prospect that they will participate and acquire the skills necessary to help them.