Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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687. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the reason the youth guarantee pilot project was not rolled out nationally after its success in Ballymun, Dublin 11. [24600/16]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The Government’s primary strategy to tackle youth unemployment is to create the right environment for a strong economic recovery through effective policies. In doing so it is hoped to promote competitiveness and productivity.

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.

Lessons learned from the Ballymun Youth Guarantee pilot project have informed the national roll-out of the Youth Guarantee in a number of ways. First, the BYG project showed the importance of close engagement by case officers with young jobseekers. This has informed reforms to Intreo processes such that there is now monthly engagement with all young people by case officers to discuss and achieve personal progression plans. Second, the BYG project identified a need for a more intensive approach with disadvantaged youth distant from the labour market, to build employability and work readiness skills. This approach has been taken forward in the First Steps programme. A third learning was the importance of career guidance. Pathways to Work 2016-2020 commits to designing, developing and implementing an accredited professional development programme for Intreo case officers. This will benefit all jobseekers, including young jobseekers, and will contribute to improving the quality of Intreo services. Finally, the BYG project was progressed through partnership working at national and local levels. The scale, scope and nature of this partnership working was facilitated by extensive, pre-existing community infrastructures and relationships. It is not feasible or necessarily desirable to replicate these structures in every community in which Intreo offices operate. Nevertheless, Pathways to Work 2016-2020 contains a number of actions to strengthen local working arrangements and protocols, including for example through Regional Skills Fora, which will include a specific focus on youth.

I am satisfied that these measures drawn from the learning of the BYG project, together with other measures and the Government’s strategy to tackle youth unemployment by creating the right environment for a strong economic recovery through effective policies, will continue to address youth unemployment.