Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Youth unemployment is a critical issue. Thankfully, we have less than half the youth unemployment challenge as Spain. We have a variety of initiatives under way, including JobBridge, to tackle it. We have increased the number of young people in work, so it is not simply the emigration valve. There are actually more young people at work, which is very important.

The youth guarantee is a new initiative we negotiated as part of the multi-annual financial framework during the Irish Presidency, and it will be rolled out next year. As the Deputy knows, it will become live on 1 January with European funding to match Irish funding. Tackling the unemployment problem is the number one priority for this country. Most impartial observers will see the fruits of all the work we have been doing, with the numbers in jobs increasing for the first time since 2008.

See this speech in context