The recent report by the ESRI entitled, Ireland and Europe: Challenges for a New Century, is currently being considered by my Department. I welcome its general finding to the effect that participation in temporary employment measures can be very valuable in restoring motivation and hence job prospects for unemployed persons. This finding is in line with the Government's commitment to the provision of training and employment scheme opportunities for persons who are unemployed.
FÁS will provide an average of almost 16,000 opportunities on its training programmes this year while an average of almost 24,000 persons will participate in employment schemes such as the social employment scheme, including the community employment development programme and Teamwork.