Would the Minister accept that the measures he has referred to had been announced before he met the Irish Congress of Trade Unions recently and that they argued very strongly in their submission for additional schemes to tackle the unemployment problem? Can the Minister tell us if he is contemplating any new schemes at this time?

The answer is yes, but naturally the financial element has to be taken into account. We had announced 1,000 new places prior to 29 September but if anything can be done to make the schemes more attractive for the unemployed to enable them re-enter the labour market this will be done.