Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)
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Question 73: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if her attention has been drawn to figures produced by the Central Statistics Office which show that young men under the age of 25 years are the main casualties of the job crisis and that two out of every three young men are out of work in counties Donegal, Limerick and parts of Louth; the steps that are being taken to address the particular problem of unemployment among young men; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11357/10]

Jim O'Keeffe (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 93: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if her attention has been drawn to the increase in unemployment in rural Ireland and in particular in the south west; and her plans for dealing with same. [11240/10]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 136: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the action she has taken to address the growing number of unemployment blackspots throughout the country; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11676/10]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 73, 93 and 136 together.

The Government recognises that unemployment is a major problem impacting on every county in Ireland. It is a problem that is affecting both rural and urban society. Due to the severe downturn in the construction sector I am also very aware that unemployment is having a disproportionate impact on young men. Two thirds of those signing onto the Live Register are male and 12.5% are male and under 25 years of age.

The Government is committed to addressing Ireland's unemployment problem and has put in place a range of measures designed to support those who are unemployed get into employment as soon as possible. For instance to enable unemployed individuals, including young men under 25 years of age, to continue to access education, training and work experience programmes, the Government has significantly expanded existing activation provision. My Department will this year deliver approximately 147,000 training and work experience places for the unemployed compared to the 66,000 places that were delivered in 2008.

This additional provision has been achieved through increased resources, providing an increased range of different course types and introducing new initiatives such as the Work Placement Programme. Under this programme, participants can avail of a work experience placement of up to nine months. In addition, there is also specific provision aimed at early school leavers such as the Youthreach programme, which currently has 6,000 places. It has also been decided that certain cohorts of the unemployed are accorded priority access to the current range of supports. These cohorts are as follows:

People with low skills or education levels, i.e. unemployed people who do not have a Leaving Certificate qualification or equivalent;

People who are on the Live Register for long periods (over one year) - this includes people who are in receipt of Jobseeker's Allowance/Benefit for one year or longer;

People who are under 35 years of age, with at least 30% of training places reserved for those aged under 25 years;

People who were previously employed in sectors that have been most affected by restructuring and where recovery to near previous levels is not in prospect in the short to medium term (mainly construction, manufacturing and wholesale/retail trade).

The Government announced in Budget 2010 a new Labour Market Activation Fund, which will be for innovative proposals over and above mainstream training provision for the unemployed. This Activation Fund will focus training on the low skilled and those in structural unemployment including those formerly employed in the construction, retail and manufacturing sectors. Priority will be given to those under 35 years of age and the long term unemployed. It is expected that this Fund will provide at least 3,500 training places next year. A call for proposals will issue shortly, which is expected to lead to increased education and training provision this year and to assist young people currently unemployed.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Question 74: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the steps she will take to address the continuing employment crisis in view of the continuing high level of unemployment indicated by the live register figures; her plans to provide new training opportunities for persons who have lost their jobs and to encourage the creation of new employment opportunities; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11359/10]

Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)
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Question 99: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the steps she is taking to combat the continuing high level of unemployment as indicated by the February 2010 live register figures and ongoing announcements of job losses; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11358/10]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 74 and 99 together.

The recent Live Register statistics for February showed that 436,956 people were signing on. It is important to say that of these 275,475 (63%) were signing on the Live Register on a full week basis representing an unemployment rate of 7.9%. While this remains far too high it should also be noted that it represented a month on month increase of 20 people. In fact when seasonally adjusted figures are taken into account there has been a decrease of 2,300 people from the Live Register last month. The Government has adopted several measures to combat high unemployment levels. These are focussing on creating new jobs, protecting existing employment and providing the necessary supports to the unemployed to get them back into employment as soon as possible.

In relation to job creation, my Department's enterprise development agencies, IDA Ireland, Enterprise Ireland, Shannon Development and the County and City Enterprise Boards are continuing to support the creation of new job opportunities. Last week I launched "Horizon 2020" IDA Ireland's strategic blueprint for attracting Foreign Direct Investment into Ireland in the coming decade. With this strategy IDA Ireland will target the delivery of over one hundred thousands new jobs by 2014. In Budget 2010 the Government announced the introduction of a new jobs stimulus measure, the Employer Jobs (PRSI) Incentive Scheme. Under the scheme, where an employer creates a new job and takes on a person who has been unemployed for 6 months or more, the employer will be fully exempted from the liability to pay PRSI for the first year of that employment. This will give employers an 8%-10% saving on employment costs for each new job created.

To protect vulnerable employment my Department has introduced the €100 million Enterprise Stabilisation Fund and the €135 million Employment Subsidy Scheme. These initiatives aim to support companies experiencing difficulties because of the current economic climate. It is expected that the Employment Subsidy Scheme, which is designed to support the maintenance of vulnerable jobs and prevent people from being made redundant will either directly or indirectly support approximately 80,000 jobs this year.

In addition to these measures, the Government have significantly expanded the support services available to those who are unemployed. For instance job search supports services have been expanded to cater for a planned National Employment Action Plan referral capacity of 154,000 people this year compared to the 74,000 people who were supported in 2008. This year my Department will provide approximately 147,000 training and work experience places, which is a substantial increase on the 66,000 places that were delivered in 2008.