Rónán Mullen (Independent)

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. In any economic crisis the first tangible and damaging result is the loss of jobs. In Ireland, the abundance of opportunities that presented to younger people over the years of the boom are now sadly lacking and our brightest and best are on the dole queues or contemplating emigration. These are tragic times for our country.

It will not be easy to address this problem and a number of initiatives will be required. I am sure I am not alone in confessing that I do not have the answer but I see areas where changes made now would make it easier to create jobs. We need to offer incentives to employers to take on new employees. The greatest barrier to workforce expansion is the lack of need and many employers struggle to find work for their existing employees, never mind create new positions. Despite this obstacle, it remains the case that some workplaces have the capacity to create jobs and we need to do everything in our power to incentivise them. In particular, we need to expedite the PRSI holiday scheme announced in the budget for newly created jobs. Currently, PRSI contributions by employers run at about 10%, which is a huge disincentive for them to employ staff. A similar scheme existed prior to the 2010 budget but it has been closed to new entrants and its replacement has yet to be published.

We also need to investigate the minimum wage. I have previously addressed this issue in the House. Nobody wants to see our citizens working in sweatshops but equally we do not want them scraping by on the dole. A mechanism exists for companies to pay less than the minimum wage where they are unable to afford the agreed rates. While it is regrettable that employers are forced to do this, it would be far more regrettable to force people out of employment and onto the dole. I question whether we have the mechanisms we need to oversee the minimum wage rates set by the various joint labour committees and registered employment agreements. The recent Industrial Relations (Amendment) Bill 2009 was a missed opportunity to change the regime and perhaps we ought to revisit the issue in light of subsequent experience.

We need to enable and encourage unemployed people to upskill. This objective could be aided by a review of the restrictions placed on people seeking to access FÁS and VTOS retraining schemes. Most of these schemes require an applicant to be unemployed for a number of weeks or months and while there may have been good reasons for this requirement in the past, we need a far more flexible system today. Let people who want to access the schemes do so at the earliest opportunity. A change to this requirement would be very helpful for the young people who, as I noted earlier, are among the worst affected.

Equally important for the people who are lucky enough to get an offer of employment is the decision about leaving the safety net provided by the social welfare system. Nobody wants to stay on welfare but people risk losing benefits once they enter the workforce. I ask the Government to explore ways of allowing people re-entering the workforce after a period of unemployment to keep certain benefits, as is currently the case for medical cards. The cost of such a measure would be minimal and it would pay for itself if it acted as a further incentive to work. I acknowledge, however, that I am speaking about the small minority of people who are lucky enough to gain an offer of employment and that we must focus the majority who are not in that category.

The driver of our knowledge economy is education. I want to highlight the Government's shocking failure to map out a roadmap for the third level sector. Despite its great importance to society and the economy, a coherent mission statement does not exist for the sector. I do not propose to be prescriptive at this stage nor am I urging that colleges be run centrally. I am simply advocating that the third level sector be given goals towards which colleges are encouraged to work. This would eliminate some of the mission creep seen in certain institutes. I understand a working group under the auspices of the Higher Education Authority has been created and I strongly urge the Minister for Education and Science to expedite its deliberations and work towards the creation of a strategy with a strong focus on graduate employability.

As for college courses, Senators have discussed in recent days the worrying practice of grade inflation. It would be dangerous for the country if this type of behaviour affected the reputation of our institutions of higher education. Does course design change with the times? I am a strong believer in Newman's idea of the university as a provider of holistic education, especially in respect of the humanities. I have often argued that students pursuing courses in engineering, medicine and other applied disciplines should also be exposed to the humanities as part of their education. However, we must also move with the times in course design.

In a recent issue of the alumni magazine of my alma mater, NUI Galway, I read about a new course in the faculty of commerce designed in collaboration with local businessmen, notable among them Padraig O'Ceidigh of Aer Arann. Business people give a considerable amount of mentoring to final year students so they can learn practical skills and the course requires from the students a demonstration of entrepreneurship. This is a timely response to the crisis because we need graduates who can hit the ground running and think outside the box. That mindset needs to permeate the culture of our third level institutes and their graduates.

Mar achoimre ar an méid atá ráite agam, i measc na rudaí is tábhachtaí, tá an-gá bealach a thabhairt go mbeidh fostóirí sásta glacadh le fostaithe nua. Glacaim leis go bhfuil ganntanas éilimh faoi láthair ach mar sin féin tá bealaí ina bhféadaimid cabhrú leis an bpróiseas seo. Is cuid thábhachtach é an PRSI féin, go mbeadh tréimhse a bheadh saor ó PRSI ar fáil d'fhostóirí. Chabhródh sin lenár gcás agus le fadhbanna dífhostaíochta. Luaigh mé freisin go dtarlaíonn sé anois nach bhfuil fostóirí in ann an minimum wage a íoc agus dá dhonacht sin is measa ar fad go mbeadh daoine dífhostaithe agus ag fáil leasa shóisialaigh. B'fhéidir go gcaithfimis breathnú arís ar an gcóras sin. Is é oideachas an rud is tábhachtaí agus sinn ar lorg réiteach na faidhbe atá againn. Caithfimid na constaicí a thógáil uathu atá ag iarraidh dul ar ais i mbun oideachais, daoine atá díofhostaithe le roinnt míonna nó seachtainí. San am atá thart, bhí orthu fanacht go dtí go bhféadfadh siad fáil isteach ar chúrsaí FÁS agus mar sin. Caithfimid scéim níos solúbtha a chur ar fáil do na céimithe sin. Níor chóir go mbeadh an chontúirt ann go gcaillfeadh daoine leasa sóisialaigh áirithe nuair a rachadh siad ar ais ag obair. Caithfimid gach constaic a thógáil ó na daoine sin.

Caithfimid díriú isteach go mbeadh plean leagtha amach do na hinstitiúdaí tríú leibhéal oideachais, go mbeadh straitéis acu a chuirfidh béim níos mó ná riamh ar na cúrsaí iad féin agus curaclam na gcúrsaí sin. Molaim go mór an rud atá déanta ag Coláiste na hOllscoile, Gaillimh, i ndámh an ghnó i bpáirtnéireacht le Pádraig Ó Céide, ceannasaí Aer Arann. Tá na mic léinn ag obair ar an taobh teoiriciúil ach chomh maith leis sin ag dul i mbun oibre le lucht gnó, ag fáil traenáil agus tacaíochta uathu le go bhfuil meon an ghnó á chothú iontu. Beidh sin go mór ar ár leas san am atá romhainn.