Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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Question 92: To ask the Minister for Enterprise; Trade and Innovation the steps he is taking to combat the continuing high level of unemployment in view of the fact that the live register figures have now been in excess of 400,000 for 16 successive months and ongoing announcements of job losses; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36382/10]

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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The Government's five-year integrated plan for trade, tourism and investment aim to create 300,000 jobs. The new plan, "Trading and Investing in a Smart Economy", is the first integrated strategy to promote overseas trade, tourism and investment. With this new strategy, the Government aims to position Ireland for strong export-led growth to 2015, resulting in high levels of job creation.

The Department of Social Protection has introduced the Employer Jobs (PRSI) Incentive 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. I understand that, to date, there have been 849 applications under the scheme. The Department of Education and Skills offers, through FAS, the Work Placement Programme, which provides up to 9 months work experience to 2,000 unemployed individuals.

The Programme is open to all sectors of the economy, including the private and public sectors, as well as the community and voluntary sectors. Participants on the programme retain their existing social welfare entitlements for the duration of their placement. At the end of September 2010, 1,916 individuals had commenced their placements under the Work Placement Programme (WPP). A provider of a placement under the WPP can avail of the PRSI Exemption Scheme if they employ a person who has completed 3 months on the WPP. This will give employers an 8%-10% saving on employment costs for each new job created.

The Labour Market Activation Fund was launched by the Tánaiste in March of this year, in order to assist in the creation of training and education provision for specific priority groups among the unemployed, namely the low skilled, and those formerly employed in declining sectors - construction, retail and manufacturing sectors, with particular emphasis on the under 35's and the long-term unemployed. Following an open tender competition, 370 tenders were received. A total of sixty organisations have been successful in securing funding. These organisations encompass the private, not-for-profit and public sectors, providing approximately 12,000 training places for priority groups of the unemployed.

The Fund provides an exciting mix of programmes covering a broad spectrum of activities in potential high growth areas of the economy. These programmes have been selected in order to deliver on Government's objective of strengthening our human capital by enhancing education and skills levels in line with the national Skills Strategy and the needs of the 'Smart Economy'.

Through the Department of Education and Skills, the Community Employment scheme provides eligible long term unemployed people and other disadvantaged persons with an opportunity to engage in useful work within their communities on a fixed term basis. The programme helps unemployed people to progress to the open labour market by breaking their experience of unemployment through a return to work routine and assists them in enhancing and developing both their technical and personal skills. In Budget 2010, an additional 500 community employment training places were announced bringing the total number of places available to 23,300. The Government will continue to pursue a whole of economy strategy to support Irish firms, win foreign direct investment and increase visitor numbers in order to sustain and create job opportunities and boost economic output.