Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)

The Labour Party is opposed to this amendment. We are very much in favour of young people having access to training, education and work opportunities.We do not believe any young person should go directly from school on to the dole. That is our view and we feel that many other opportunities should be provided for them to increase their chances of being able to secure employment.

Whatever about the original thinking behind the approach last April, what has happened in practice is a matter of serious concern. When these changes came in last April for people under 20, it was portrayed at the time as a reasonable proposal that a young person who refused training or work placements would have their payment cut. However, the reality was different. It was a unilateral decision to cut jobseeker's payment for all those under 20. The Minister is now proposing to extend that to those under 22 and to reduce it for those up to 25. That would be fine if there were training and educational opportunities available to people. However, there is nothing like enough places available. Of all the under 20s who had been claiming jobseeker's allowance since April, 74% are still on the reduced rate, so these people have not managed to get a training or education place. Of the remaining 26%, many of them would not come into the bracket because they have dependants, so much less than 20% of the under 20s have been accommodated on a training course. It is not progress to force people in their late teens or early 20s to live on €100 per week. In the case of people who are living at home, it could be a lot less than that.

The figures have shown that the State is not in a position to provide the necessary training courses. We are not prepared to accept a proposal to extend that penalty of a half rate jobseeker's payment to people in their early 20s. There has been a big switch to short-term training. FÁS provides many short courses lasting one, two or three weeks. A person might get onto a course that lasts a few weeks. He or she gets the full rate, the course comes to an end and he or she goes back onto €100 per week. Nobody can provide that person with another training course.

What happens to a 21 year old, well qualified graduate who comes out of college and cannot obtain employment? It would be fine if there was plenty of employment available and the problem was that people were not taking the jobs that are available. However, that is not the problem because there are no jobs for young people. The Minister should speak to constituents who have had the soul destroying experience of handing in their CVs doing everything they can to get a job, but the jobs just are not there. A person comes out of college with a good degree but has no chance of getting a job. He or she is hanging around waiting for something, because there is no training available. What kind of training will be provided to somebody who has a very good honours degree? Can meaningful and relevant training be provided to a person like that? Can it be provided over a number of years until the person reaches 25, during which time he or she is expected to live on €100 per week?

This measure is a kick in the teeth to our young people who have worked hard through school and college to get good degrees. The Government is telling them that there is no place in Ireland for them at the moment and that they would be better off emigrating. That is the wrong message for us to be sending out to our young people, which is why the Labour Party is rejecting this proposal.

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