Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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202. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the extent to which she and or her Department has directly or in conjunction with other Departments managed to focus on the issue of youth unemployment; if particular strategies are deemed to be appropriate and successful; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22081/13]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The Government is tackling unemployment generally through the twin strategies of the Action Plan for Jobs and Pathways to Work. My Department worked closely with the Departments of education and skills, social protection , jobs, enterprise and innovation and others as part of a cross departmental effort to realise this objective and to progress the Government’s Action Plan for Jobs.

Youth unemployment is a particular concern because of the prospects it holds for young people themselves, their personal development and for social inclusion. The Government has a range of measures in place to tackle youth unemployment and these include programmes and initiatives in education, training, job search assistance/ work experience and to encourage job creation.

As Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, my aim is to highlight the potential youth work can play, as part of the response to the youth employment challenges, through collaboration with other interests. Each year over 380,000 young people participate in youth work services throughout the country. Youth Work and non formal learning, in its many programmes and activities, recreational, sporting, learning, volunteering and skills development, offers young people opportunities to acquire new competences and skills such as critical thinking, problem solving, collaboration, motivation, creativity and leadership. These are core and transferable life skills- the 21st century skills that are so important to training and career readiness. There is a growing recognition in Ireland and across Europe of the potential of youth work services to enhance employability of young people as part of a wider employment and enterprise strategy.

Youth employment is a theme which I prioritised during my Presidency of the EU Council of Youth Ministers through focusing on the potential of youth work and young people's engagement in youth activities and the way that non formal learning complements more formalised systems of employment, education and training. At the recent EU Youth Conference in Dublin, hosted by the Irish Presidency, over 250 young people and policy makers jointly discussed social inclusion challenges that impact on young people’s lives such as employment and social supports as well as the role of quality youth work.

I will invite the EU Youth Council later this month to adopt Council Conclusions on the contribution of youth policy to addressing the goals Europe 2020 to maximise the contribution of youth policy in addressing the challenges young people face. I also plan, as part of the Presidency programme, to host an expert round table event on quality youth work and its contribution to youth employment (20–21 June 2013, Kildare).

On my invitation the National Youth Council of Ireland (NYCI) has submitted a proposal for the development of a national programme to address the needs of the most marginalised young jobseekers not in education, employment or training. This proposal is under review in my Department.

Minister Bruton published the 2013 Action Plan for Jobs last February on behalf of the Government and in that context my Department will continue to work closely with the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, to identify in what ways the youth sector can contribute to shared policy objectives to address youth employment.