Patrick Nulty (Dublin West, Independent)
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352. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the way the interdepartmental Youth Guarantee Implementation Group is demonstrating the required transparent planning process in the construction of the youth guarantee implementation plan as defined by the European Commission; if she will furnish details regarding the formal consultation process between each of the sectors and the interdepartmental Youth Guarantee Implementation Group, in view of the fact that the Commission states that each youth guarantee implementation plan should set out the roles of public education and employment authorities, youth organisations, employees' and employers' representatives; the amount of funding that is being applied for from the the €6 billion youth unemployment initiative funding stream by 31 December 2013; if she will detail any matched funding at national level; the amount of funding being applied for from the provisional €10 billion European Social Fund for 2014; if she will detail any matched funding at national level; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [49403/13]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The Department of Social Protection has set up an interdepartmental Youth Guarantee Implementation Group with officials and programme managers from the Department of Education and Skills, Department of Jobs Enterprise and Innovation, and the Department of Children and Youth Affairs. The terms of reference for this group are to review the current range of youth employment policies in Ireland to assess what measures will need to be taken to commence the implementation of the Guarantee.

The Department held a stakeholders’ consultation forum in relation to the Guarantee on October 14, and has also invited further submissions from the bodies that attended.

The Department of Social Protection has also requested the assistance of the OECD in developing the implementation plan. In particular the OECD has been asked to identify best international practice and how it might best be applied to implementation of the Youth Guarantee in Ireland. A delegation from the OECD has already met with stakeholders at the forum mentioned above as well as with a range of relevant public bodies.

The development of the plan will also draw on expert work already carried out by the European Commission over the last few years, and in particular the Commission Staff Working Document (SWD) accompanying the Proposal for a Council Recommendation on Establishing a Youth Guarantee, published in December 2012.

The Department recently (November 6th ) appeared before the Joint Oireachtas Committee (JOC) on Education and Social Protection in order to provide a comprehensive update on the Youth Guarantee Implementation Plan. Also present at the JOC were representatives of various Youth Guarantee Stakeholders including the National Youth Council of Ireland and the Union of Students of Ireland. The session was streamed live on the RTE website.

It is intended to produce a concrete plan for the implementation of the Guarantee for consideration by the Government in December before being transmitted to the European Commission by the end of 2013.

The implementation plan will include estimates of expected take-up of places on a national basis and of the funding costs of that provision. Funding costs will depend on the take up of places by individual young people.