John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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176. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the amount of funding drawn down as part of the Youth Guarantee since 2013; the amount spent to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53421/18]

John Halligan (Waterford, Independent)
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The Youth Employment Initiative (YEI) is one of the main EU financial resources to support the implementation of the EU youth guarantee. The YEI is integrated into European Social Fund (ESF) programming as a dedicated priority axis within the ESF Programme for Employability, Inclusion and Learning 2014-2020 (PEIL). The specific YEI allocation for Ireland of €68m (for 2014 and 2015) is matched by equal amounts from our ESF allocation and from the Exchequer, giving an overall total allocation of €204m. Ireland was not eligible for an additional allocation under the second YEI allocation arising from the mid-term revision of the Multi-annual Financial Framework in 2017.

All ESF activities, including YEI activities, are fully funded up-front by the Exchequer with the EU (ESF/YEI) funding being claimed in arrears.Seven activities were originally selected for YEI funding namely, the Back to Work Enterprise Allowance (BTWEA); JobBridge; JobsPlus; Momentum; Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (SICAP); Tús; and Youthreach. Improvements in the rate of youth unemployment coupled with the discontinuance of the JobBridge and Momentum schemes, had consequences for the expenditure expected on YEI activities. Consequently, the Programme Monitoring Committee agreed to the inclusion of the Community Training Centres; the Defence Forces Employment Support Scheme (DFESS) and the Youth Employment Support Scheme (YESS) under the YEI.At the same time, the Committee agreed to the removal of the Tús, JobBridge and the Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme from the YEI, having unsuccessfully explored the potential to use Simplified Cost Option models and/or in the light of audit trail difficulties.The current gross allocations under the YEI for the activities are:

In accordance with the ESF Regulations, initial and annual pre-financing EU support for the YEI priority axis of €8.5m has also been received to date.

The ESF authorities will ensure that sufficient payment applications are submitted to fully drawdown the YEI funding allocations.

In addition, the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection previously advised that it had obtained EU funding of €250,000 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.