Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will conclude in a minute. Deputy Carey is happy for me to make this final point. The change was proportionate, but the State should not incentivise people who want to stay at home at 18 or 19 years of age, do not work or go into full-time education and who do not look to undertake training of some nature. For jobseekers, there is a reward for upskilling. Jobseekers aged under 26 years will get the full adult rate of the back to education allowance, representing a 21% increase, which is the single largest increase in the social welfare package, and rent supplement. In Northern Ireland, jobseekers' rates are between €64 and €81 whereas we are still at the €100 mark.

Fine Gael is about enterprise, reward and making work pay. That is what we want to do. This approach is working. In 2010, 90,000 young people were on the live register. Now the number is 34,000. We want to see it decrease further. The budget is an important step in that regard.

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