Ms Jean McCabe:

Yes, the Deputy is wrong on that point. A point was brought up about the productivity of youth workers. The Central Statistics Office last year stated that labour productivity in sectors with high youth employment, which are retail and hospitality, had only grown by 0.3% annually over the past five years compared with the national average of 2.1%. This would say that youth employment is less productive and, therefore, more costly to train and upskill-----