Paul Connaughton (Galway East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The scale and rapid nature of the implosion of jobs after the economic crash was staggering. When one considers that in March 2011, there were 300,000 fewer people working than there in 2008, it is hard to comprehend the difficulty and misery that lies behind that number. In a reducing jobs market, there will always be an oversupply of talented and experienced people to take the few available jobs that do come up, shutting off the job opportunities for new talented people entering the jobs market. By 2009, there were 80,000 young people under 25 out of work. Thankfully, this figure has now dropped to 60,000, a significant drop. Behind that statistic, however, there lie 60,000 individual stories.

The Government has focused sharply on reducing that stark number as quickly as possible to ensure these people’s lives are not blighted by a lack of opportunity which resulted in an economic crash beyond their control. At 38%, the seasonally adjusted rate of unemployment among young people is still much too high. This is why the Government must continue to stimulate employment creation and prioritise youth employment at European national and regional level. One area the Government should examine further is offering the long-term unemployed the opportunity to upskill in areas where we know there are job opportunities waiting. When one considers the cost of providing a third level grant to someone to stud software engineering or biotechnology versus the cost of providing unemployment assistance, one will see it would be money well spent. I accept such courses would not suit all the unemployed. However, if 5,000 young people were targeted for such upskilling, it would represent one in 12 of those under 25 who is unemployed.

Research is needed into college dropout levels and the reasons behind such decisions. Was the decision made for education, health or income reasons? It is a tragedy young people have to drop out of college because their families cannot support them. This is according to stories I hear weekly from distressed constituents. Families whose only income is social welfare will qualify for the special rate of grant for third level courses. The difficulties I have encountered in my clinics in County Galway relate to parents who may have one day of work per week which puts them over the income threshold for the special rate, putting college out of the reach of their adult children.

It is only through rising employment levels across the economy, a development which I believe is under way, that youth unemployment can be reduced. Far too many parents are waving goodbye to their children, fearful their grandchildren will grow up on faraway continents. We must live up to the promise of the youth guarantee scheme and ensure those young unemployed people are offered real opportunities to progress into employment or continued education.

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