Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The youth unemployment figures are unbelievable. A total of 5 million young people are unemployed in Europe currently while, in this State, 30% of young people are unemployed with 50% long-term unemployed. The Minister mentioned the preparatory action. The Commission has allocated €4 million for this, which equates to 80 cent per unemployed youth in the State. That is laughable if one is looking to tackle this issue. There are 7,000 participants in JobBridge but 1,600 people are emigrating on a weekly basis. The amount allocated is nowhere near proportionate. What budget is necessary to deal with this problem? Where will be Minister get this money? Will it be through Europe or the Government?

See this speech in context