COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

South Dublin County Council Crest

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, May 13, 2013

QUESTION NO. 21

QUESTION: Councillor E. Tuffy

To ask the Manager if the Council will request the Department of Social Protection to advise if financial support might be available form the European Council Youth Guarantee Programme for Council run Social Employment Schemes run for young people under 25 years of age?

REPLY:

The European Council Youth Guarantee Programme is where any young European person who has been unemployed for more than four months would receive a good-quality offer of employment, continued education, an apprenticeship or a traineeship.

The European Council provided further backing by Member States for the idea of ‘Youth Guarantee’ schemes by agreeing a recommendation in early April 2013. This sets out guidelines for the implementation of such schemes with EU financing, focusing in particular on actions such as partnerships between public and private employment services, employers, social partners and youth representatives; outreach strategies towards young people, especially the most vulnerable; support for the integration of young people into the labour market by enhancing skills; the use of targeted wage and recruitment subsidies to encourage employers to create new opportunities for young people; and promoting labour mobility.

It should be noted that on 24 April, the Parliaments’ Employment & Social Affairs Committee adopted an amended proposal on the €6 billion Youth Employment Initiative (to give effect to the Youth Guarantee). This would extend the measure to young people up to age 30 (instead of up to 25 as proposed by the Commission) and to widen its applicability to regions with youth unemployment rates above 20% (as opposed to 25%) for 2012 — but only if accepted by the Council. Both Irish (NUTS II) regions already qualify for consideration under the terms of the Commission proposals.

It is prudent to note that the general contribution of local authorities across Europe is praised in a new report on the implementation of the Commission’s recommendations on active labour market inclusion.

The Council awaits guidelines on the programme from the Department on implementation of the scheme and calrification will be sought on the specific request as outlined from the Department.