Dr. Martin O'Brien:

A lot has been made of rising youth unemployment in the most recent data point. I would rather see a data point over a couple of quarters to see if there is something fundamental going on. That is not withstanding that there are challenges, which Deputy Devine raised very well, that young people are facing in Ireland at the moment. There could be seasonal factors determining why there is a certain increase in youth unemployment in a particular quarter. It is certainly the case and there is a general trend that youth unemployment is typically higher than the average rate of unemployment over a longer period.