Fiona O'Malley (Independent)

I thank my Labour Party colleague for sharing his time. More importantly, I thank him and his party colleagues for raising this issue, the consideration of which needs a good deal of time. A lot of our energy in dealing with the economy has been spent on addressing the banking crisis, which has also been necessary. As Senator Ryan said, unemployment is a scourge and it is truly appalling for a person to find that he or she no longer has a job. We, therefore, need to focus on addressing the issue.

I applaud the initiatives commenced by Minister of State. Clearly, he is somebody who is not interested in quoting statistics but in arriving at solutions. I accept that some of the initiatives, about some of which Senator Doherty spoke at length, are not easy to deal with. Under initiatives to tackle youth unemployment social welfare payments will be cut to encourage young people to participate in training, but that is what the Minister of State must do, as we cannot train people for a lifetime on benefits; we have to give them an education and some training. While such an initiative may not be appreciated by a young person who was on a certain level of income, it is in his or her best long-term interests. Therefore, our focus should be on education and retraining.

I am glad to hear the Minister of State will focus on apprenticeships. A person who learns a trade will have that skill throughout his or her life. While there are short-term difficulties, I am glad the Minister of State is taking a long-term view.

We must stand by small and medium-sized enterprises because it is through such enterprises that employment will be provided. I will welcome whatever initiatives can be taken to assist this sector.

I again thank Senator Ryan again for sharing time with me.