Marie Moloney (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House and the opportunity to speak on the EU guarantee. The wider problem of youth unemployment is something that has consumed this Government's focus since coming to office. The matter has been raised in the Seanad on many occasions and I commend Sinn Féin Senators for once again bringing it back on the political agenda through Private Members' time.

The Central Statistics Office recently stated that the level of youth unemployment had fallen in Ireland by nearly 10,000 in the year to May 2013. I will not get into an argument about figures as one can see the glass as half empty or half full. There is no denying that some of the fall may have come through emigration, activation or people staying longer in education. We must not believe that the job is done and the tough work has only started.

In the five years since 2008, this country has lost six out of ten jobs held by people under 25. That is a catastrophic collapse that has been a significant body blow to the morale of young people in this country. This has a devastating effect on families, communities and the Exchequer. There are even places where we cannot field a GAA team and clubs must band together to form a team. This proves that we are missing young people in this country.

I hope the recent approval of the European youth guarantee can offer some relief to young people in this country. A youth guarantee aims to provide every young person between 18 and 24 with an offer of a job, internship or training within four months of becoming unemployed. The fact that this progressive measure has been confirmed by the Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs, EPSCO, Council meeting during the Irish Presidency of the EU means this Government is putting the unemployment crisis at the heart of political discussion both nationally and at EU level.

I commend the Minister, Deputy Burton, for her work in securing this approval. She is deeply concerned about the level of youth unemployment in this country and she is very committed to bringing forward measures to solve it. It is important to note the EU-wide youth guarantee scheme is partially funded by the European Commission, with 7.5 million young people across Europe not in employment, education or training representing 12.9% of young Europeans. It is highly unlikely that the €6 billion pledged by the Commission will cover all the costs of the scheme and as a result individual states will probably have to provide the majority of funding. Given the state of public finances, the funding for a full youth guarantee will not come overnight, and I hope the Government will continue the measures contained in the Action Plan for Jobs and reinforced in the last budget.

As outlined by the Minister, Deputy Burton, the Government's plan is to gradually implement the EU youth guarantee to obtain best value for money and the most effective results. The Government currently has a number of schemes in action designed to combat youth employment and long-term unemployment in particular. Currently, 12,500 young people are participating in FÁS schemes aimed at providing the skills to enter the labour market.

Youthreach has 6,000 young people receiving integrated education and work experience aimed at early school leavers. JobBridge, a scheme commenced by the Minister, Deputy Burton, is providing 2,700 people with work experience places. This year, Momentum, a scheme for education and training interventions, which is part of the Government's Action Plan for Jobs initiative is being rolled out by the Department of Education and Skills. Momentum will support the provision of free education and training projects to allow 6,500 long-term jobseekers to gain skills and access work opportunities in identified growing sectors. More than 1,250 of these places are assigned specifically for under-25s. I welcome today's announcement by the Minister of JobsPlus which will help the employer take on people who are long-term unemployed, and that scheme will be launched next month.

These are some of the many schemes by the Government designed to combat unemployment and, as I said before, these schemes are beginning to tentatively make an impact on the live register figures. A perfect example of this can be seen in the JobBridge scheme enacted by the Government. Over 60% of the participants in this scheme find paid work afterwards. We have seen from JobBridge that the Government needs to aid young people by providing them with the right education and skills. It is also necessary in the current climate to provide employers with assistance and confidence in taking on more staff. It provides an opportunity for employers to see the value and qualities of the new staff without the financial cost.

Ireland is not in a position financially to provide a Scandinavian style youth guarantee that costs and estimated €6,600 per young person. This means the Government needs to be creative and come up with fresh ideas. I commend the Minister and the Government for the energy they are putting into coming up with these ideas. It is important that when we speak about the training and education of young people we consistently remember the jobs market. I want to see Ireland providing our young people with the right tools to enable them to find work. I refer specifically to PayPal, which had to go outside Ireland for nearly 50% of its employees because Irish people did not have the right language skills to take up the jobs. We have to look to the future and work to the future and to do that we have to educate our youth in the right sector, and in particular in language skills.