In line with other EU and OECD jurisdictions where such measures feature, reduced rates were introduced to protect young people from welfare dependency by providing young jobseekers with a strong financial incentive to engage in education or training or to take up employment.
Should a young jobseeker on a reduced jobseeker’s allowance payment participate on an education or training programme they receive a higher weekly payment of €198. I introduced in Budget 2019 a €5 increase for all Jobseekers including younger jobseekers which will come into effect during March.
Reduced rates of Jobseekers do not apply to those aged 18-24 years who were in the care of TUSLA during the 12 months before they reached 18 and I am extending this to those reaching 25 years of age in the current social welfare bill.
The Youth Employment Support Scheme (YESS) which I launched in September this year is a new work experience scheme targeted exclusively at young jobseekers. All participants will receive a payment of €229.20 per week. Participants whose underlying entitlement is in excess of that amount will continue to receive their weekly payment with an additional top-up allowance of €22.50 per week.
The policies implemented have been effective in reducing youth and long-term unemployment. The latest monthly unemployment figures report that the unemployment rate for persons aged 15-24 years was 12.3% which is a significant decrease of 4 percentage points, from 16.3% in November 2016.
Any such changes could only be considered in a budgetary context.