John Carty (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister of State and I congratulate him on his comprehensive contribution. I also welcome Senator Dearey, as I did not have the opportunity to do so previously.

The Minister of State gave us a comprehensive report and I always like to look at the glass as half full rather than half empty. Over the past few weeks, a few positive developments have happened with a number of foreign companies taking on new employees or announcing new jobs. That is positive because had the downward trend continued, we would have been in serious trouble. Nobody likes to read the figures highlighting the massive number of people unemployed, especially those aged under 25 to whom the Minister of State alluded. That is a tragedy.

A great deal has been done for apprentices but a number of them are caught in a dilemma in that they had almost completed their apprenticeship with different companies, which went into liquidation, and they cannot secure their qualification. I have asked the Minister of State, Deputy Calleary, about this in the House and I acknowledge the issue is being worked on but I ask that it be treated with urgency. It is disheartening for these young people. Some of the proposals FÁS is coming up with are ridiculous. Perhaps the organisation was too liberal in the past but it is no good now to go to the other extreme. We must move on and give young people an opportunity.

We have never had an awful lot of employment in my part of the country but we were fortunate in our local communities to have indigenous industries and, thankfully, they are still going strong. For example, Ballyhaunis still has Dawn Meats, Western Brand Chicken Limited and engineering companies such as Cashels Engineering Limited. They may have cut the hours of workers but they continue to give employment and everything should be done to help and encourage them and to ensure they are kept going. They are a major asset to south and east Mayo and to parts of counties Sligo and Roscommon.

Not enough use has been made of Ireland West Airport Knock in my county. The airport has a large land bank, which is zoned for industrial use. The IDA, the county enterprise board and a number of Departments are working together to make sure something gets off the ground similar to Shannon Development. I ask the Minister of State and his Department to give every support to this enterprise. It is the jewel in the crown and it is well situated to take up the slack for many areas.

He mentioned education in his contribution. It is still the most important factor. The introduction of free education in the mid-1960s by Donogh O'Malley took a while to seep through the system but when it did, we were on the crest of a wave with a young, vibrant educated people who were ready to take up the jobs coming on stream. Everything possible should be done to keep that going. This is close to the Minister of State's heart.

He alluded to the banks, as did a number of Senators. The banks are not being fair and they are not doing right by the people given the amount put into them by the State. They are not giving back anything. The Minister of State said he has talked to them and asked them to make money available to small businesses. It is vital they do so and the sooner the better. At present they are not doing it and it is causing immense problems for businesses.

The Minister of State spoke at length about research and development, which I regard as vital. It is good to know we have, I suppose, a friend in a high place, the new Commissioner, Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, and that research and development is in her remit. I hope the Government will work closely with her to get whatever is available from the European perspective for research and development.

Many grants have been given to support jobs, which I welcome. However, I have one gripe. I recently heard of a case of a man who applied for a job through the community employment scheme only to be told after the interview he was not eligible because he had worked for 15 weeks in the previous 12 months. He was in receipt of unemployment assistance and went to work for 15 weeks which showed he was willing and wanted to work. Now, because he worked for those 15 weeks, he cannot get on the community employment scheme. Rules are rules and nobody knows more about them than I do. However, I believe that is bordering on the ridiculous. A person who genuinely wants to work should be given every encouragement to do so rather than placing obstacles in his or her way. I ask the Minister of State to review the matter. I know it goes across a few different Departments and comes primarily under the remit of the Department of Social and Family Affairs.