Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein)
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592. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the amount of Youth Guarantee funding spent to date; and the amount drawn down from 2014 to 2016, inclusive, and to date in 2017. [44018/17]

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The Youth Employment Initiative (YEI) is one of the main EU financial resources to support the implementation of the youth guarantee by providing job, education and training opportunities to young people aged 15-25 who are not in employment, education of training. YEI funding is reserved for use in those regions, including Ireland, where youth unemployment levels exceeded 25% during the reference year of 2012. The specific YEI funding allocation for Ireland of €68m is matched by equal amounts from our European Social Fund (ESF) allocation and from the Exchequer, giving an overall allocation of €204m.

The YEI is integrated into ESF programming and is being delivered in Ireland as a dedicated priority axis within the ESF Programme for Employability, Inclusion and Learning (PEIL) 2014-2020. This programme is managed by the ESF Managing Authority, within the Department of Education and Skills. Seven actions were originally selected for YEI funding, namely the Back to Work Enterprise Allowance; JobBridge; JobsPlus Incentive Scheme; Tús; Youthreach, Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme and Momentum. These actions are underway and are being fully funded up-front by the Exchequer.

I am informed that while no application has been made to date to the EU Commission in respect of the YEI, it is expected that the European funding will be fully drawn down. The ESF Managing Authority and the Operational Programme Monitoring Committee (PMC) maintain an ongoing overview of the funding allocations under the PEIL and re-allocate the available funding as required, in accordance with the EU Regulatory provisions. In this regard, the PMC has agreed in principle to the further inclusion of the Community Training Centres, which are funded by the ETBs in consultation with SOLAS, as an approved activity under the YEI with effect from 1 January 2017.

The ESF Regulations provide for initial pre-financing/advances of EU support at 1% (or 1.5% for Member States under financial assistance in 2014 and 2015) of the full programme support, payable for each year from 2014 to 2016, together with annual pre-financing of between 2% and 3% payable from 2016 to 2023. In May 2015 an amendment to the relevant EU Regulations resulted in an unprecedented increase in the YEI advances to be paid to Member States. The Commission subsequently released pre-financing payments from the dedicated YEI budget line, worth 30% of the YEI budget, to provide additional financial liquidity to support YEI implementation. However, the relevant Regulations specified that where a Member State did not submit an interim payment application by 23 May 2016 for at least 50% of the additional pre-financing amount, that the Member State must reimburse the Commission the total YEI pre-financing contribution. As Ireland did not submit an interim YEI payment application, the €19.8m additional pre-financing received was reimbursed to the Commission. This reimbursement has not resulted in any loss of EU monies to the Exchequer. Furthermore, as the YEI activities are fully funded up-front by the Exchequer there is no resulting reduction or delay in the funding available to them.

I understand that the ESF Authorities in the Department of Education and Skills intend to submit a payment application to the European Commission in respect of the YEI following its designation in accordance with the EU Regulatory requirements in the coming months.

My Department also obtained EU funding under the European Commission’s call for proposals for preparatory actions under the Youth Guarantee Pilot, to pilot a Youth Guarantee Scheme in Ballymun which operated in 2014. The total cost of the pilot was €302,279 which included EU funding of €250,000.