Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 5 February 2015
68. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the progress to date in addressing the issue of youth unemployment; the extent to which targets will be met during the current year; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5289/15]
View answerThe Government’s primary strategy to tackle youth unemployment is through policies to create the environment for a strong economic recovery by promoting competitiveness and productivity. Economic recovery will underpin jobs growth and the availability of productive employment for young people. This strategy has been succeeding, with an increase of over 80,000 in employment over the last two years.
Reflecting the improvement in the labour market, youth unemployment continues to fall (with a rate of 21.6% in December 2014 estimated by Eurostat, as compared to 25.8% in December 2013). However, the Government recognises that as the recovery takes hold, there is a need for additional measures to ensure that as many as possible of the jobs created are taken up by jobseekers and young jobseekers in particular. This is the rationale behind the Government’s Pathways to Work strategy and the Youth Guarantee.
The Youth Guarantee sets a medium-term objective of ensuring that young people receive an offer of employment within four months of becoming unemployed. The main plank of the guarantee is assistance to young people in finding and securing sustainable jobs. For those who do not find employment, additional offers are provided for. Most such offers (over 70%) are in further education or training. Others are in community-based employment programmes such as CE, Gateway and Tús, or through the JobsPlus employment subsidy for private employment.
The rollout of the Youth Guarantee will be assisted by the Labour Market Council. The Council recently launched the Employer and Youth Activation Charter which is an example of increased focus on employer engagement. The Charter commits signatories to interview at least 50 per cent of their job candidates from the PES. Pathways to Work 2014 targets with respect to the Youth Guarantee have largely been achieved. In addition it is expected the following targets in Pathways to Work 2015 will be met:
- Roll out the First Steps developmental internships programme for 1500 – 2000 young people.
- Allocate 1,000 places on the Tús scheme to young people.
- Introduce a pilot programme to support young unemployed people to take up opportunities under schemes such as Your First EURES Job.
- Ring-fence a minimum of 2,000 training places for under-25s by the Department of Education and Skills, under a follow-up to the Momentum programme.
