Mr. Mark McNulty:

I thank the Deputy for her questions. NYCI would be happy to make members of the committee aware of anything we are hosting relating to the European Year of Youth or anything in the future that may be of relevance in a European context. The Deputy mentioned meaningful engagement and practical outcomes for this year. One of them is the idea of youth-proofing or a youth check or youth testing - it is called many things. The youth test was referred to by the European Youth Forum because it had a specific policy idea and a way of carrying that out at European level, but obviously it applies down to national level also. That is something we would like to see.

Additionally, something that has already been achieved or almost achieved this year at European level by the European Youth Forum is a ban on unpaid internships. It has had some recent successes both in terms of litigation it has taken at European level and also in terms of securing guarantees from national governments to ban unpaid internships, which is a substantial benefit for youth this year. The other item we would like to see, in addition to that youth test, youth check or however one wishes to refer to it, is engagement with Europe and with national politicians with an interest in Europe or MEPs in a meaningful way, and allowing young people's voices to be heard at all those levels.

The Deputy also mentioned climate change. There needs to be a policy focus on lobbying in this area from the youth sector. The European Youth Forum, which is our representative body in Europe, last year adopted its first policy programme and about a quarter of that was related to climate issues. That tells how much of a focus there is within the sector on this. It needs to come back to young people and enabling them to engage in conversations about climate change and other aspects of that area.

I will briefly address Erasmus+. I was at an event with European Movement Ireland last week where I was facilitating. I was around a table with eight or nine students from University College Cork, UCC. One had been in Erasmus but all the others said they felt it was inaccessible or they were coming from backgrounds where they could not afford it or their parents could not give them a nest egg to go and the like. Some of it is breaking down the barriers of fear and making sure people are informed, but also some of it is making sure it actually reaches, and that the funding is appropriate for, people who need it. That has to happen at European level, but we also need those young people's voices feeding in at national level to say, "I could not go and here is the reason". By the time policy change happens it will not benefit them, but it might benefit people a few years behind them or their children.

I am happy to follow up further if I have not fully addressed Deputy Harkin's questions.