Written answers

Tuesday, 4 November 2014

Department of Social Protection

Youth Guarantee

Photo of Paul MurphyPaul Murphy (Dublin South West, Socialist Party)
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105. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the measures that have so far been taken on the youth guarantee implementation programme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41682/14]

Photo of Joan BurtonJoan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Thanks in large part to the Government’s Pathways to Work strategy, many of the elements identified at an EU level as being core to a Youth Guarantee are already in place in Ireland. These include personalised delivery of services at public employment offices with targeted recruitment subsidies, internships, places on training and employment programmes and free further education options.

In addition, the Youth Guarantee Implementation Plan forwarded to the EU at the start of this year set out our intentions to provide earlier and faster engagement for young people under Intreo and to reserve places on existing programmes, such as TÚS, for access by young people who are already long-term unemployed.

These new and existing initiatives provided 28,000 plus places for unemployed young people during 2014 (this figure excludes apprenticeship and PLC places).

Approximately 14,300 of these places had been taken up at the end of September. The table details the total take-up for the year-to-date, together with the estimate for full-year intake provided in the Youth Guarantee Implementation Plan.

Take-up is expected to rise substantially by year-end, for several reasons.

Firstly, the student intake on programmes such as the Back to Education Allowance (BTEA) is concentrated in September/October in line with the academic calendar. In addition, the intake of young people to the 2014 iteration of the Momentum training programme has just begun.

Secondly, the passage of primary legislation over the summer to allow positive discrimination on age grounds, enables the launch later this month of the Youth Developmental Internship programme and the enhanced JobsPlus variant for young people.

I am confident that these developments, together with the Autumn intake on education and training programmes, will ensure that the Government delivers on its targets under the Youth Guarantee.

Youth Guarantee Progress YTD:

Programme
Expected full-year intake
2014 YTD
Note
Youthreach/CTC
3,300
1,300
Only CTC starters -- Youthreach

figures not yet available for 2014
JobBridge (including developmental internship)
5,000
2,418
As of 14th October
Tús
1,000
1,223
As of 30th September
JobsPlus
1,500
265
As of 30th September
Momentum
2,000
13
2014 intake commencing September-October
BTEA (excl Momentum)
3,300
2319
As of 14th October
BTWEA
200
139
Including 5 persons on STEA
VTOS
500
Not available
FAS/Solas
9500
6,036
Based on SST, Traineeship, Bridging & LTI starters YTD

(end September)
CEB youth Entrepreneurship

Training and Mentoring supports
700
Not yet commenced
CEB/MFI micro-loans for young people
150
2
31st August
International Work Experience and Training
250
Not yet commenced
Gateway
450
122
26th September
Community Employment
500
438
30th September
Total
28,350
14,293
Excluding where figures are not available

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