Jillian van Turnhout (Independent)
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I acknowledge the role of the Minister for Social Protection in bringing about the youth guarantee. The key point is that the youth guarantee does exactly what it says on the tin. It delivers a quality education training and-or work experience opportunity to young jobseekers within four months of their becoming unemployed. There are many issues I could raise here but given the time limit I will focus on five key questions. We do need a debate, and I hope that happens in the new year. I regret that I had to resort to tabling a matter on the Adjournment because during the debate on the social welfare Bill the Minister gave a commitment to coming back to the House and on more than one occasion I requested that she come back to the House.

The first question relates to funding. Can the Minister provide any clarity on the overall financial envelope that the Government plans to invest in the youth guarantee in 2014 and 2015? The Taoiseach mentioned a figure of €100 million per annum following the recent summit on youth unemployment held by President Hollande of France. Is there any clarity on the budget?

A recent OECD report noted that there is only one case worker per 800 unemployed persons of all ages, which is twice the Nordic average. Will the Irish plan invest in job counselling and guidance?

Young jobseekers are not a homogeneous group. We have heard about literacy and many other problems. Can the Minister give us some detail on the range of provision to meet the different needs of young jobseekers? Will there be new initiatives or is the Government merely planning to top up existing programmes?

Even if there were sufficient places available tomorrow some young people who have literacy issues, poor prior experience of formal education, substance misuse, family difficulties or long-term unemployment may need additional support to engage in activation measures. Will the Minister confirm that the Irish plan will provide a way to ensure that the contribution of the youth work organisations and the youth work sector can be enhanced and harnessed because it has been proved that they can reach these young jobseekers?

I am sure the Minister will agree that the youth guarantee cannot be delivered by the Government alone. I welcome the fact that the Department of Social Protection held a stakeholder forum on 14 October last and invited written submissions. The organisations that were consulted are concerned by the lack of information since then on the Irish plan, which we know must be submitted by the end of the year. Will the Minister commit to engaging with stakeholders in early 2014 on the plan? Will there be a further stakeholder forum where the details of the plan can be discussed? Will the Minister return as she promised in this House on 7 November last and engage with the Members of the Seanad on this issue of the youth guarantee and Ireland’s plan?

I am aware that the Minister of State, Deputy McGinley, is in a difficult position because the Minister for Social Protection is not here but can the Minister outline the governance and oversight of the implementation of the youth guarantee in Ireland and confirm that it will be along the lines of the Ballymun pilot, with involvement of key stakeholders?

Dinny McGinley (Donegal South West, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Senator for raising this important issue and affording me the opportunity to provide the Seanad, on behalf of the Minister for Social Protection, with an update on recent developments.

Yesterday, the Minister for Social Protection brought a memo to Cabinet with a draft plan for the implementation of the EU recommendation on a youth guarantee. The recommendation is that member states should: "Ensure that all young people under the age of 25 years 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." In agreeing this recommendation, the EU accepted that the guarantee would need to be implemented over a period of time on a phased basis in countries, such as Ireland, facing very significant fiscal constraints.

The development of the draft implementation plan was led by the Department of Social Protection working with the support of an interdepartmental group of senior officials from the Department of Education and Skills, the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, the Department of Children and Youth Affairs, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and the Office of the Tánaiste. The draft plan brings together all Government measures in 2014 across a range of Departments that contribute to the transition of young people from education to work, and from unemployment to work. In keeping with the Government focus on tackling long-term unemployment, it is proposed that the four-month interventions will be targeted in the first instance at those young people most at risk of long-term unemployment as the guarantee is introduced on a phased basis.

Ireland already has most of the key elements of a youth guarantee in place including: a quality offer of second level education for all young people under 18; second chance education or training options for early school leavers via Youthreach and community training centres; access to free third-level and further education programmes; apprenticeship and work-focused training initiatives such as Momentum; access to a range of employment programmes and supports including internships, JobBridge; work experience, Tús; employment subsidies, JobsPlus, and job-search or guidance services, Intreo centres and via Jobslreland. Accordingly, in order to maximise the return from structures already in place, it is proposed to build, and reserve places, on the existing programmes for young people already long-term unemployed; develop variants of these programmes and offers tailored specifically for young unemployed people. These tailored offers will include: a differentiated fast-track engagement option under Intreo with earlier and faster engagement for young people; a special JobBridge programme targeted at young people at particularly high risk of long-term unemployment, including, for example, early school-leavers and young people from marginalised communities; and a JobsPlus offer for selected young people at the four-month threshold of unemployment. This will offer employers an incentive to recruit young people who face high barriers to employment before their period of unemployment becomes prolonged. There will also be an earmarked allocation in the MicroFinance Ireland fund for business start-ups and a reserved allocation of places for young people on programmes such as Momentum, with 2,000 places reserved and Tús with 1,000 places reserved.

It is estimated that expenditure on these programmes for young people will be in excess of €300 million in 2014. This includes existing and new funding, including the EU funding that is expected to be drawn down. The Cabinet gave its approval yesterday for this proposed approach and following from that approval, the plan is being prepared for transmission to the European Commission before the end of this month. The plan will be published in January.

In response to the Senator's question on consultation, following the stakeholders forum in October to which she refers, the Department of Social Protection sought submissions from those who attended.

Submissions have since been received from a range of bodies and individuals, including the South Tipperary Local Development Company, Wexford Local Development, National Youth Council of Ireland, SpunOut.ie, Ms Emer Costello, MEP, Youth Work Ireland, Tipperary Regional Youth Service, Education and Training Boards Ireland and a joint published submission from the Union of Students in Ireland, the Irish Second-Level Students' Union and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions. Officials of the Department have also discussed the issues raised by the guarantee with the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Education and Social Protection, as well as with the Employment Leadership Group, a group of over 100 HR directors and business leaders from Ireland's top companies with a specific focus on the problem of unemployment and on job creation.

Finally, the Department commissioned the OECD to provide advice on the implementation of a youth guarantee. It was asked in particular to identify best international practice and how it might best be applied to Ireland. The OECD made an interim presentation on its views to Ministers and officials from relevant Departments two weeks ago and will present its final report by the end of the year. The OECD's interim report informed the draft implementation plan and its final report will be published along with the implementation plan in January.

Jillian van Turnhout (Independent)
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I thank the Minister of State. He answered some of the questions but he was not in a position to answer quite a number. I ask that those questions are relayed to the Minister for Social Protection and that she would be encouraged to come to the House in January to have the debate she promised us on 7 November on the Irish plan for implementing the youth guarantee.

The Department met with groups such as the Employment Leadership Group. I would also encourage engagement with the youth work sector and youth work organisations. These organisations are best placed to reach those hard to reach young people who are not traditionally targeted in the programmes. The youth guarantee gives us an opportunity to, once and for all, give these young people hope and give them a pathway to work. However, that pathway needs careful guidance and I believe youth work organisations are best placed and have proven time and again that they can do it. The Government cannot deliver this on its own; it should engage with stakeholders and not just consult.

Dinny McGinley (Donegal South West, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Senator once again for raising the matter and for her personal interest in it, which I assure her is shared by all of us. Her comments will be conveyed to the Minister.