Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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90. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if she will provide an update on the roll out of the youth guarantee; and if she further provide a breakdown by location of when necessary funding or job activation measures supported specifically under the youth guarantee for young persons not in education, employment or training will be made available. [30823/14]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The Youth Guarantee Implementation Plan was published in January. It provides for over 28,000 programme opportunities for unemployed young people in 2014, as set out in the table attached as an appendix to this statement. This figure excludes some 24,000 places provided for young people through PLC courses and apprenticeships. These PLC and apprenticeship places, together with the wide range of vocational third-level courses provided for the young, although not reserved for unemployed jobseekers, nevertheless contribute to the spirit of the guarantee.

In relation to the 28,500 places for unemployed young people, approximately 6,700 of these were taken up in the first half of 2014. This is broadly in line with expectations, as some programmes such as the student intake on programmes such as the Back to Education Allowance (BTEA) and Vocational Training Opportunity Scheme (VTOS) are concentrated in September/October in line with the academic calendar. A new intake of young people to the second iteration of the Momentum programme for long-term unemployed jobseekers is also scheduled for later in the year.

The table supplied displays the total number of under 25s who have started across the various programmes outlined in the Youth Guarantee Implementation Plan in the first six months of 2014. In addition, it is important to note that some of the initiatives planned under the guarantee require primary legislation to allow positive discrimination on age grounds in the provision of employment services and supports. This legislation will be enacted as part of the Spring Social Welfare Bill which is before the Oireachtas this month. Two employment schemes in particular, the Youth Guarantee developmental internship programme and the JobsPlus variant for young people, are dependent on this legislation being passed.

The JobsPlus variant will be available as soon as possible after the relevant legislation has been cleared. The developmental internship, which will include a pre-internship training period, will be in place no later than autumn. Passage of the legislation will also permit the introduction of earlier and more intensive engagement by INTREO with the young unemployed. The groups that the Department of Social Protection will be engaging with in any specific area of the country will be determined primarily by the level and trend of youth unemployment and the resulting demand for places, and the programme mix of such places, in each area. Given the number of factors involved, it will not be possible to make detailed advance projections of the groups that the Department will be engaging with for its rollout and implementation on an area-by-area basis. Local implementation of the Youth Guarantee will be a matter for the respective Department of Social Protection Divisions in each respective divisional area.

Under 25 starters on Youth Guarantee programmes, End June 2014