Brian Ó Domhnaill (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I acknowledge that. The live register figures also show that people are leaving the country. In 2012 and 2013, for example, approximately 200 people left the country every day. On a national radio programme at breakfast time this morning, a person in Canada spoke of the number of Irish people who are setting down roots in Calgary and elsewhere in Canada where new GAA clubs are being established. While GAA clubs are flourishing in other parts of the world, I regret that in my part of the world we are finding it extremely difficult to keep clubs going because young people are leaving as a result of the absence of employment. The figures on employment do not necessarily translate into people gaining employment, which raises other questions.

Time is short but I would like to briefly raise a number of issues. Youth unemployment is the most serious problem facing the country. In the past five years, more than 250,000 aged between 15 and 29 years or one in five persons in this age cohort have left the country. Emigration is ripping the soul out of Ireland and destroying future recovery. Something must be done to tackle youth unemployment. While I acknowledge the work being done by the Government in other areas, it is not tackling this issue. There has been a strong focus on IDA supported companies, foreign direct investment and the multinational sector but regional development has been ignored by the IDA, Enterprise Ireland and the Department.

Employment is not being created in the regions. The Minister's replies to parliamentary questions show that most new jobs have been created in major urban hubs, which also benefit from most site visits. The north west and other rural areas are in decline and have been left with little hope for the future. Young people who cannot secure a job locally, for example, in teaching, are being forced to move abroad. This is a sad development, which tears at the heart of communities. Every family in my local area of north-west Donegal has experienced migration, whether to Dublin, Toronto or Sydney. People in the regions lack opportunities.

I plead with the Minister to discuss this issue with the IDA and Enterprise Ireland. The lack of infrastructure in the regions is not an excuse. It is disgraceful that the Government has allowed €13.5 million in European Union funding for rural broadband services to be returned. When I question the IDA or Enterprise Ireland about employment, officials inform me that broadband facilities are not available in certain rural areas. I am aware that responsibility for the failure to drawn down the EU funds for rural broadband services rests with the Departments of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources and Agriculture, Food and the Marine. A grave injustice was done to rural communities when this funding was lost.

Other areas which I could discuss include the need to upskill the workforce, the role of the information and communications technology sector and the need to adapt educational programmes for the future. I ask the Minister to outline what work is being done in this regard by his Department and the Department of Education and Skills. The Minister for Education and Skills discussed this issue in the House recently and I am aware that plans are in place in this regard. We need to know what will be the position in five, ten or 15 years because the children currently at school need to be informed about what career opportunities may become available to them. Links are needed between the education system and industry.

A recent OECD report highlighted the difficulties small and medium-sized enterprises are experiencing in securing funding. Financial institutions are not lending and choosing instead to roll over pre-approved loans and reclassifying this money as new approvals. I understand that 66% of funding that had been pre-approved for companies has been rolled over. State agencies and services, including the Leader programmes, Údarás na Gaeltachta and the county enterprise boards, are providing grant aid to small and medium-sized enterprises. Time and again, I have encountered circumstances where people who have secured funding from these sources to start a small business have been refused co-funding by the banks. Notwithstanding that the Credit Review Office is doing its best, the banks must be taken to task by the Minister because they are not lending. If they are not prepared to lend, the State must provide loan facilities to enterprises, provided they can demonstrate an ability to repay the loans. Interest free loans or some other type of loan must be provided to enterprises. I understand that approximately 50% of the new jobs in the past year were created by people who are self-employed. The Government must help people to help themselves, for example, in cases where they cannot secure a bank loan of €5,000 or €10,000.