Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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57. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if she will implement a Youth Guarantee scheme in Darndale in Dublin 17, similar to that in Ballymun in Dublin 11 but where lone parents and those not on the live register can also benefit. [22835/15]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Under the European Commission's call for proposals for preparatory actions under the 'Youth Guarantee', the Department of Social Protection obtained EU funding to pilot a Youth Guarantee Scheme in Ballymun. This was a once-off call for pilot projects. The purpose of the Ballymun Youth Guarantee (BYG) pilot project was to test key elements to inform the national roll-out of the Youth Guarantee. The project officially finished on the 31st December 2014.

The Youth Guarantee sets a medium-term objective of ensuring that young people receive an offer of employment, education or training within four months of becoming unemployed. The main plank of the guarantee is assistance to young people, who become unemployed, in finding and securing sustainable jobs. For those who do not find employment, additional offers are provided for. Most such offers (over 70%) are in further education or training. Others are in community-based employment programmes such as CE, Gateway and Tús, or through the JobsPlus employment subsidy for private employment. There are additional planned measures that have not yet been fully implemented. Those under 18 are offered second chance education, e.g., through Youthreach.

The Youth Guarantee national roll-out will progress throughout 2015. There will be flexibility to tailor approaches to meet local conditions. The specific approach to be followed in each area will be a matter for local DSP management working together with relevant stakeholders, including employer groups, community groups and training providers. It is expected that this approach will be informed by the lessons learned from the Ballymun Youth Guarantee project, rather than requiring further pilot exercises.

The Youth Guarantee is focused in the first instance on the young unemployed in receipt of jobseekers payments, and involves the conditionality related to such payments in respect of jobsearch, availability for work, and willingness to take up appropriate offers of employment or opportunities on training and temporary employment programmes.

Young people in receipt of non-Live Register payments (for example lone parents and people with disabilities) are entitle to benefit from the full range of services and programmes that are available to those on job-seekers' payments. They are not however subject to the same conditionality in terms of willingness to engage with those services.