Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 29 July 2020
78. Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the measures included in the July stimulus package to tackle youth unemployment and support young persons to return to the workforce; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18810/20]
View answerSince the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March of this year, Ireland has witnessed unprecedented levels of unemployment. Research published by my Department found that young people in particular have been hardest hit by the pandemic, and are over represented in the sectors most affected by public health restrictions (hospitality, retail and accommodation).
Even though the situation is improving, over 45% of our young people remain unemployed and rely on some form of State income support to make ends meet; traditional jobseeker support payments, the Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Support (PUP) and the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS).
I am focussed on giving our young people the best chance to find their footing in the labour market, including our disadvantaged youths who were unemployed prior to the pandemic and face barriers to accessing employment opportunities. I welcome the publication of the July Jobs Stimulus Package which includes a number of measures that strengthen our efforts to provide strong income supports to young people while they look for work and access to professional employment and retraining services to compete in the labour market.
My Department, along with the Department of Further and Higher Education will deliver on a number of key actions to address the youth unemployment challenge, including:
- Extending and expanding funded job placement and work experience programmes to give young people the necessary workplace skills to compete in the labour market. This will be particularly beneficial to our young people who face barriers to accessing employment opportunities.
- Equipping young jobseekers with the skills to compete in the labour market by ramping up transversal skills development, digital capabilities, increasing the use of fast turnaround specific skills training and providing education and training that targets growth sectors and occupations.
- Providing employers with incentives to recruit apprentices. This will ensure an apprentice pipeline as the labour market recovers, providing skilled, sustainable career opportunities for young people.
- Working with and encouraging employers to hire young jobseekers from the Live Register – in particular through the use of targeted recruitment subsidies.
- Extending access to Back to Education Schemes so that young people on the Pandemic Unemployment Payment, who are not already in education, can avail of education opportunities at the start of the 2020/21 academic year.
- Increasing the capacity of our State Employment Schemes to take on and provide occupational activity to young people who are long-term unemployed.
Targeted funding programmes for higher education will also be available for young people to develop skills for the future world of work, including Springboard Plus and Human Capital Initiatives.
My Department continues to develop the next iteration of Pathways to Work for the period 2020-2025. Complementing the measures in the Stimulus Package, the strategy commits to ensuring that positive labour market outcomes are achievable for all groups in society, including young people.
These measures are just a start. They will build on the work achieved by the temporary measures introduced in the early days of the pandemic. An ambitious work agenda lies ahead but we will not be found lacking in our response.
