Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

-----and it is political decisions that change that. I met a young man in Waterford the other day who went to Australia, worked for 14 months doing two and three jobs when he could, came back with €100,000 and set up his own business, and he was very happy to do so. It was his choice to earn money where he could, do two or three jobs where he could get them and come back with that intention.

We have the fifth highest direct payments to children in the European Union. Other countries have problems of a different scale, including the Nordic and the southern Mediterranean countries. Spain has a massive problem in terms of young people being unemployed, as does Greece. We have been affected by this economic catastrophe also. Clearly, the situation will not rectify itself. It will only be dealt with by the people making political decisions in the interests of our country.

Coming from a western county facing the Atlantic, Deputy Higgins knows that time after time, in adversity after adversity, when the Irish people identify a problem, they roll up their sleeves and always achieve a result, and we will continue to do this for 2014.

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