Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Can one believe it? This is in the face of mass unemployment and mass emigration, and all the contrary evidence which presents daily in all our respective constituencies, no doubt including the Minister's. The European Commission, in which this person is a most senior official, has forced the austerity agenda on people across the EU, with devastating consequences for economies and societies from Greece to Ireland to Portugal to Spain and several other locations.

What is worse is that our subservient Government has been more than content to obey the austerity diktats of the troika and, indeed, to go beyond them, by imposing hardship on the old and the young, the sick and the vulnerable, those on the margins and those struggling to survive with inflated mortgage debt and the rising cost of living. The Government has doggedly refused to make the very wealthy pay their fair share of tax. It claims this would be a tax on work. In fact Government Deputies know it would be a tax on excess, greed and the lifestyles still enjoyed by a privileged minority in the State, those the European Commission's top man here claims have been hit hardest by austerity.

In reality we know all too well it is the least well off in Irish society and those on low to middle incomes who have been hit hardest by austerity. The Sinn Féin motion focuses on one of the hardest hit sectors, our young people. EUROSTAT population figures released today show the State has the highest level of emigration in the EU. With net migration at minus 7.6 per 1,000 of population we are ahead of Lithuania, Estonia and Greece in the league table for outward migration from the State. We have the shocking rate of 30% unemployment for people under 35, and this does not include those on training schemes. This is a huge indictment of the failure of austerity, but an even greater indictment is the figure of 105,000 young people between the ages of 15 and 24 who have emigrated since 2011. The figure for those aged between 25 to 44 who have emigrated since 2011 is 112,000. In other words, 217,000 people between the ages of 15 and 44 have emigrated over these two years.

As a Deputy representing Cavan and Monaghan in a constituency made up entirely of small towns, villages and vast rural areas I know intimately the devastation being caused to our communities by the outflow of our young people. The lifeblood is literally being drained from communities throughout the length and breadth of this country. The Government is clapping itself on the back for the so-called exit from the bailout but it prefers to ignore the exit sign over the door as our young people leave our country in droves every week.

There is clearly a concerted effort on the part of the Government to stem the tide of emigration and tackle mass unemployment among young people. The mentality behind the slashing of jobseeker's allowance for people under 25 says it all about the regard the Fine Gael and Labour Party Government has for our young people. Like many Governments before it, as far as it is concerned the more that leave the better because it means less dole and less rent supplement to be paid out and lower demand on health and education services. The Government parties will deny this vehemently, but their protests will carry no weight. The facts speak for themselves.

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