Tom Fleming (Kerry South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Bill and recent budget measures have failed to address the imbalance in our society and we have a continuation of the regressive measures that are impacting disproportionately on the weakest and most vulnerable in the State. It is again a case of stripping the elderly, the disabled, the unemployed and those in negative equity or mortgage arrears while billions of euro are handed to foreign bondholders. The cumulative impact of budgetary cuts leaves many people experiencing gross inequality and social exclusion on a daily basis.

This is epitomised by the draconian cuts to social welfare assistance to the under 26 age group. It is claimed that social welfare payments to these people are a disincentive to work but there are strong financial incentives for them to seek work. Prior to the recent budget cut, a young person aged 23 or 24 was in receipt of €144 per week and those aged 25 received €188 per week. It is proposed to reduce these payments to €100 and €144, respectively. The majority of young jobseekers do not claim secondary benefits and, therefore, this is the maximum payment they receive. Even if they were to take up a job on the minimum wage rate, they would have weekly take home pay of €329 minus the universal social charge. There is a financial incentive, therefore, for young jobseekers to take up employment. It is also claimed that this decision will encourage young people to take up education, training and work experience opportunities. It is estimated that these cuts will impact on at least 20,000 jobseekers in 2014 based on the current live register. This does not take into account new claimants aged between 22 and 25 from January 2014. An analysis shows there are 3,250 places on the Tús, Momentum and JobBridge schemes and it is not possible to indicate how many places will be created by JobsPlus. This means 20,000 people will be incentivised to take up 3,250 guaranteed places. There is a lack of quality education, training and work experience opportunities and the reality is young people cannot access places that do not exist in the first place.

The youth guarantee scheme guarantees a young person a quality education, training or work experience place if he or she is unemployed for four months or more, and the initial allocation of €14 million is welcome. However, it represents only 5% of the estimated annual cost of a comprehensive scheme. While it is difficult to estimate the cost of the implementation of the youth guarantee in Ireland, the National Youth Council of Ireland ascertained earlier this year that full implementation would cost €217 million per annum based on the number of young people unemployed for six months or more. It is encouraging that the Government can access European funding to complement Exchequer funding of at least 66% of the overall expenditure.

Will the Minister ensure maximum use is made of funds available? There is no breakdown of the €46 million proposed for education, training and work experience opportunities for under 25s and, more important, the number of places being provided. At best, 3,250 new places will be created and additional places will depend largely on employer recruitment of those under 26 years of age. The JobsPlus and JobBridge are demand-led schemes and it will depend on the employer taking on employees and interns. The statistics show that 29% of interns on JobBridge are under 25 years of age. The reduction from 12 to six months in eligibility for under 25s for JobsPlus is welcome. Will the Minister consider extending this to 25 years olds?

There is a fallacy that most young jobseekers live at home and, therefore, have financial support from their parents and families and do not want welfare payments. The reality is that where young jobseekers are living at home and apply for jobseeker's allowance, their claims are means tested and the parents' income is taken into account in a process known as benefit and privilege assessment.

The statistics show that more 19,000 applicants under the age of 25 had their applications for jobseeker's allowance refused between 2009 to 2012. This clearly shows that the payment is going to young people who are living in low income households. The Government stated that this cut will only apply to young people on jobseeker's allowance but they represent 92% of all claimants as the majority of young people lack the 104 weeks PRSI contributions to qualify for jobseeker's benefit. They have not entered employment or they have worked for fewer than two years.

The under 26 welfare payment is one of the more contentious issues. This should be rescinded over the coming months for the reasons I explained. Will the Minister review the matter given the huge number of places that will be needed to cater for these people? In the medium to short term, the jobs will not be available. We need the economy to pick up a bit before we implement all these tough measures.

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