Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Acting Chairman. Tackling the crisis in relation to young people being unemployed is an absolute priority for the Government, and we are driving the response both on a national and EU-wide level in the context of our Presidency.

Research evidence shows that spells of unemployment while people are young, particularly for young men, can have a permanent scarring effect on their lives. This is a particular problem during an economic downturn as young people tend to be more severely affected by job losses. That is because young people tend to be the most junior employees in an organisation and they also tend to work in sectors such as retail and services, which feel the brunt of any reduction in demand. It is crucial, therefore, that an effective strategy is in place to tackle youth unemployment before it becomes prolonged and systemic.

In the first instance, the Government's primary strategy to reduce youth unemployment is to create the environment for a strong economic recovery by promoting competitiveness and productivity. Economic recovery will underpin jobs growth. Past experience suggests that youth unemployment can be expected to fall relatively rapidly when recovery takes hold. That is the good point.

In this context, although there is a long way to go, the Government has stabilised the economy and economic growth has returned at a modest level, but it has returned. It must be remembered that in the period after 2009, the bank guarantee period, the economy lost 250,000 jobs. That haemorrhaging of jobs in that period after the bank guarantee was an enormous shock to unemployment in this country at every age level, but most particularly for young people.

Official labour market figures published by the Central Statistics Office, CSO, recently indicate that the number of unemployed people aged under 25 has fallen by 10,000 on the same time a year earlier to approximately 54,000. The statistics cited by the Sinn Féin Members are wrong. I do not know if that matters much to Sinn Féin but they are wrong. I am not sure who did the research but the other figures cited in their presentation are wrong. For instance, it is not true that the number of young people in the labour force has fallen by 24,000 in the past 12 months. The number of young people in unemployment has decreased by fewer than 4,000. In a range of 50,000 people the Senators' figures are dramatically wrong. If they are trying to forecast economic growth, they should try to work with the correct figures.

One of the obvious reasons we have these changes is to do with demographic patterns. If the Senators check with the CSO it will tell them the demographic patterns. In addition, as a consequence of the recession, and I am sure everybody here knows this, huge numbers of young people have chosen to remain in education. That is a factor. Emigration and the distress it causes is also a factor but I strongly suggest the Senators should check with the CSO or get their researchers to verify the facts with the CSO because the figures they are using are wrong.

The official labour market figures published by the CSO show that they have fallen by 10,000 on the same time a year earlier. That is a positive. The unemployment rate for young people has fallen from 29.7% to 26.6% over the same period. This downward movement in unemployment has bucked the trend in the EU as a whole, and that is important in the context of Ireland, where youth unemployment has continued to rise.

Furthermore, in the most recent 12-month period, virtually all the decline in youth unemployment was accounted for by a fall in the number of young people who were out of work for a year or more. From the comments made by Senator Reilly I understood that her concern is specifically about young people in the younger age group. I ask her to check the statistics because there are things that the people of Ireland have worked hard for and she should recognise and acknowledge that we are doing better than a huge number of other countries. Our rate is very high. We are not the fourth or fifth highest; we come after about eight other countries. The Senator should check the facts. It is hoped that the trend will continue as the economy recovers. Specifically, there is a requirement for specific national and EU-wide strategies to address the youth unemployment crisis.

I will start by discussing the European context because of the Government's role in securing an EU-wide youth guarantee and the crucial discussions now taking place on the way the guarantee will be implemented. These are very important.

Youth unemployment is an EU-wide crisis. The number of young people not in education, employment or training across Europe is estimated at 7.5 million. For that reason, the youth guarantee was identified as a major agenda item to be delivered during the Irish Presidency of the EU. Senator Reilly asked the reason I was involved. It is because of the catastrophic fall in employment that I mentioned earlier that I identified this as a priority, as I have done regarding other initiatives by my Department, particularly JobBridge, to help young people get work experience and get on the ladder to work. As the Senator is aware, my colleague, Deputy Ruairí Quinn, has significantly expanded a wide range of opportunities for young people in regard to education.

The EU's response since the outbreak of the financial crisis has largely been a fiscal one. That is the reason the Irish Government chose to make the European-wide framework for a youth guarantee a priority for the Presidency. I have long argued that there must be a social response to ensure the effects of the crisis on our people are lessened. The youth guarantee will be a crucial step in that regard.

The Government and the Department were at the forefront of securing agreement on the adoption of the EU Council recommendation on the youth guarantee. The recommendation received political agreement at the EPSCO Council meeting of social affairs and employment ministers on 28 February under my chairmanship and was formally adopted in April. There was very wide welcome and support for it because the Commission's initial documentation had only been signed off at the end of December. It is a mark of how concerned countries throughout Europe are that they were able, under the Irish chairmanship, to agree to the framework of the youth guarantee being adopted in February.

The recommendation states member states should ensure all young people under the age of 25 receive a good quality offer of employment, continued education, an apprenticeship or a traineeship within a period of four months of becoming unemployed or leaving formal education. As part of the European Council agreement on the 2014-2020 EU budget, it was decided, in association with the agreement on the youth guarantee, to provide €6 billion for a new youth employment initiative for regions with particularly high levels of youth unemployment. This funding will consist of €3 billion from the European Social Fund and an additional €3 billion from a new youth employment budget line. While it is recommended that the guarantee should be implemented as soon as possible, it is recognised that implementation could be more gradual in some member states experiencing the most severe budgetary difficulties and higher rates of youth unemployment. However, it is crucial to maintain momentum in terms of implementation of the recommendation.

At EU level, the Irish Presidency, particularly the Tánaiste and I, have pushed strongly for early production of implementation plans in all member states. The Commission has backed the Irish Government's approach that we should try to front-load this for countries with severe youth unemployment difficulties. This is under negotiation. I will be in Luxembourg at the end of next week and I hope the member states will agree to do this. The European Parliament has been very positive, particularly the socialist group, in pushing the youth guarantee and was doing so two years ago when it was not a very fashionable idea. I am not sure Sinn Féin was that taken with it when it was first discussed. It did not seem to like the idea, no more than it liked the JobBridge idea. None the less, the idea has gained general acceptability and support. I hope it will be advanced further at the Heads of State meeting.

For our part, the Government will review the range of youth employment policies in Ireland to assess what measures will need to be taken to commence the implementation of the guarantee. It is intended to produce a concrete plan for the implementation of the guarantee before the end of 2013. The Government intends to work with all relevant stakeholders to maximise the impact of a youth guarantee in Ireland. In this regard, we have sought funding from the European Commission for a proposed pilot youth guarantee project in the Ballymun area of north Dublin. Numerous organisations, such as IBEC, Ballymun Job Centre and the National Youth Council of Ireland, have agreed to participate in the pilot. Last year, I launched an initiative on a pilot basis specifically referencing young people with a disability in the Border, midlands and west region through European funds. These projects are under way as we speak throughout the region and are very positive.

More generally, the scale and nature of any additional measures required for the implementation of a guarantee at national level will depend on the trend in youth unemployment, and in particular on the number of young people likely to experience periods of unemployment of more than four months under current policies. While recent trends have been positive in this regard, the implementation of a guarantee will, almost certainly, require an expansion in the range of opportunities on offer to young people in the form of further education and training, internships, subsidised private sector recruitment and supports for self-employment. As Senators are aware, there is a review of apprenticeship in Ireland. Apprenticeship as we know it collapsed with the collapse of the construction boom. In any event, the old-style apprenticeship largely recruited young men and there were relatively few apprenticeships for young women, except in the areas of hairdressing and beauty.

Returning to the issue of the EU funds, the European Commission has published its legislative proposal for this initiative, which in the first instance will have to be considered by the Council and then, in turn, negotiated with the European Parliament. The timing of the expenditure for this initiative and the distribution of the funding throughout EU regions is not yet clear because the negotiations are ongoing. The Irish Government will over the coming weeks, while we still hold the EU Presidency, explore the possibility of front-loading funding towards the beginning of the forthcoming EU budget period which will run from 2014 to 2020. I do not want to pre-empt a final decision on funding but it is expected the Border, midland and west region and the south and east region will qualify for funding. Perhaps some of the funding under the UK package, if it decides to be involved, will apply with regard to Northern Ireland.

Senator Reilly spoke about young people. I am extremely anxious to develop a programme with regard to young people and unemployment which would specifically include young people with disabilities, whether intellectual or physical disabilities, and I hope the Seanad supports this. It is very important they should be included. The Sinn Féin motion does not address this, but it is important that the various organisations seek to be as inclusive as possible in this regard. We have put forward and discussed proposals on young entrepreneurs and I have had an opportunity to meet organisations of young people representing young entrepreneurs. This is positive. I also think young people who have a disability ought to be in the programme, and I hope, as Minister, to be able to influence this.

The Government has a number of programmes to assist young unemployed persons and keep young jobseekers close to the labour market. We have initiatives on education, training, job search assistance and guidance, work experience, and encouraging job creation. The JobBridge national internship scheme overseen by the Department is focused on providing work experience to young people. A recent independent evaluation of the scheme by Indecon Economic Consultants indicates that three out of five of those who complete their internships subsequently progress into paid employment. In the short period since it started, more than 17,000 people have participated, and it is gratifying to note that five months after they have completed an internship, more than 60% of young people have secured further employment. This is very positive because in a tight labour market, very good young people coming out with various levels of qualification find the labour market is closed and they hit a brick wall. This is what often makes it very depressing for them.

In the December budget, I secured funding for an additional 10,000 places this year across a range of programmes, including JobBridge, Tús and community employment.

Approximately one quarter of these places are expected to be taken up by unemployed young people. The Youthreach programme provides 6,000 integrated education, training and work experience places for early school leavers who do not have qualifications or vocational training and are between 15 and 20 years of age. The back to education allowance, which my Department runs, provides income maintenance for unemployed people. More than 20,000 people are on this scheme, of whom approximately 6,000 are less than 25 years of age. This scheme provides an important opportunity.

Approximately 12,000 people under 25 years of age completed training courses with FÁS in 2012, including apprenticeships and evening courses. This year, MOMENTUM, a scheme for education and training interventions as part of the Government's Action Plan for Jobs initiative, is being rolled out by the Department of Education and Skills. In the next month, I will launch a new initiative that I have developed and that I mentioned at the time of the budget, entitled JobsPlus. Under this scheme, an employer will receive an incentive of €7,500 for recruiting a person who has been unemployed and on the live register for between 12 and 24 months. The employer will also receive an incentive of €10,000 over a period for recruiting a person who has been unemployed for two years or more. At a typical starting wage, this incentive will cover approximately €1 in every €4 of an employer's wage costs. I will launch it next month. Young people are likely to be major beneficiaries of this initiative, as employers tend to hire young people when there is a recovery in employment.

The original Action Plan for Jobs set out a target of 100,000 net new jobs to be created by 2016. Many of these will be filled by young people. In addition, the Department of Social Protection's Pathways to Work strategy includes targets for increasing the number of long-term unemployed people moving into employment. Specifically, we want to return 75,000 long-term unemployed people to employment and to increase the exit rate of people on the live register for two years or more by 50% by the end of 2015. We also want to reduce the persistence rate - the rate at which short-term unemployed people become long-term unemployed - to 25% by the end of 2015. As more than two out of every five young unemployed people are long-term unemployed, these targets are important to young people.

As the Minister for Social Protection, I have a specific concern in this regard. Our young people represent a wonderful resource for Ireland. As a country, we have invested heavily in their education and care. Parents, families and communities have also invested heavily in this regard. Everyone wants the best for them. To answer Senator Reilly's question, I became involved because this represents a significant opportunity for Ireland. My job and that of the Labour Party - this is why we are called the Labour Party - is to help young people and their families to return to work. The best way to do so is to put in place educational and training structures that meet the needs of modern labour markets. We are receiving a great deal of foreign direct investment, FDI, and we must ensure that our young people are able to fill the ensuing jobs. We must also ensure that our young people have the confidence and encouragement to participate in employment.

I assure the House that the issue of youth unemployment, indeed, overall unemployment, is a priority for the Government. We will know that the economy has recovered when the unemployment figures drop, the banking issues are sorted and life returns to the construction sector, which traditionally employed many young people before the crash began in 2008. It is important that the young people who entered the apprenticeship system at the height of the Celtic tiger with the promise of work experience, only to be left without sponsors when the property market crashed half way through their apprenticeships, are offered the opportunity to complete their training, albeit perhaps in different fields. We need to be able to provide such training and education so that young people can use their skills in the workplace. We will do this through apprenticeships, internships, traineeships, State work experience, employment schemes and employer-subsidised jobs.

We need to examine the countries that have been the most successful in reducing their levels of youth unemployment, for example, Germany, Austria and Finland. The latter two are small countries and working closely with employers has been one of the keys to their success. My Department is building in this regard so that people can work from an early age in a training and education context so that they can gain experience of employment as they complete their educations.