Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Déanaim comhghairdeas le mo chara, an tAire Stáit, an Teachta Chambers. Níl aon dabht agam ach go mbeidh sé ag obair go crua agus go dícheallach ina oifig nua ar son leas an phobail sna blianta romhainn. I congratulate my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Chambers, on his appointment. I have no doubt that he will be a very effective and competent Minister of State in the years ahead and I wish him well.

We can safely say that when the history of the 21st century is written 100 years from now, the events of 2020 in general, and the particulars of the Covid-19 pandemic, will form a very large part. There are two reasons for this. First, the impact the pandemic has had on people's lives, health and lifestyles has been enormous. We have seen that not only in this country but throughout the world. The second reason, although we are not yet fully aware of it, is the long-term consequences of our response to the pandemic. I am fairly sure, and I regret to say, that there will be very serious repercussions regarding the response of not just Ireland but other countries to the pandemic. These were responses we had to make.

I have spoken previously about the significant impact our response to the pandemic has had on certain vulnerable groups in our society, such as on children and young people, victims of domestic violence and those who have mental health issues or special needs. In designing our response to the pandemic, it is very important that we do not subordinate all other societal needs to the very legitimate need of seeking to ensure that people do not get sick as a result of Covid-19.

The purpose of the legislation we are discussing is to try to deal with one set of consequences of our response to Covid-19, namely, the severe and significant economic consequences of our attempt to curtail the pandemic. In particular, it seeks to resolve and target one of the most dangerous consequences of our response to the pandemic, namely, unemployment in general and youth unemployment in particular. Anyone who has studied past recessions will know that one of the most dangerous consequences of a recession is high youth unemployment. I regret to say that, according to the statistics in Ireland at present, the unemployment rate among 15 to 24 year olds is 45%. That is an extremely unusual and, I hope, very temporary high statistic. It is because of the immediate response to the pandemic through the lockdown and it will reduce in the months ahead.

It is nonetheless very important that we try to ensure that we put in place effective measures in order that we do not allow long-term youth unemployment to obtain in this country. When one considers the impact that long-term unemployment has on a country, one can see the necessity of trying to ensure that it does not happen. A consequence of people being unemployed for lengthy periods is they lose their connection to the labour force. Employers, I regret to say, become dismissive of somebody who has not been in employment for a period of, for example, more than a year.

We must do our best to protect young people in particular from the consequences of long-term youth unemployment. We can learn a great deal from what other countries have done. Germany ,Britain and, earlier this week, France, have announced measures to target unemployment, particularly among young people. I welcome the legislation the Government is introducing. It builds upon decisions that were made by the EU arising from the powers that are vested in it under Article 122 of the treaty on the functioning of that Union. That article is not used frequently but it provides power for the Union to provide financial assistance to member states when there have been exceptional occurrences. Clearly it is the case that the pandemic is an exceptional occurrence and, therefore, we need exceptional action by the Union. As a result, on 19 May, Council Regulation 2020/672 was passed. It established the European instrument known as SURE and provided up to €100 billion that is available for the Union to give to member states to deal with the response to the economic consequences of Covid-19. As set out in the Schedule to the Bill, Ireland has to guarantee a certain amount of the contribution but, in turn, we get the benefit of those moneys, which we will badly need to ensure that we can protect young people in particular from the devastation of long-term unemployment.

We also need to recognise that this recession is unusual. Never before have we had a recession that was deliberately caused by governments. They were right to cause the recession when we look back at what was happening in March 2020. When we saw what was happening in the intensive care units, ICUs, and emergency departments in Spain and Italy, we had no alternative but to ensure that we tried to protect our own ICUs and emergency departments by bringing in the lockdown. It was a very deliberate act by us. We know the consequences, although we did not understand fully the long-term consequences. We knew there would be consequences to the lockdown. Just as we were very deliberate in closing down the economy, now we have to be very deliberate in opening it up again. That requires State intervention. We need to take extraordinary measures to prevent long-term unemployment. The Government may need to take measures beyond this legislation. This beneficial proposal is available under the Article 122 provision but it could be the case that we will have to take further steps such as those taken by the UK and France earlier this week. We need to be radical. If we allow a whole cohort of young people to become long-term unemployed, that will have a significant detrimental impact not just on them but on our society. Our society will not recover from having a young cohort who do not have any secure employment.

People have been affected by the lockdown in many different ways. A group that probably has not been given sufficient attention to date and that has been significantly damaged is people aged under 40. In fairness to them, their economic security and work lives have been put on hold to a certain extent for the purpose of trying to ensure that we protect the health of people who are predominantly more elderly than they are. They did that selflessly and they were prepared to do it. We must recognise that we have a responsibility to them as well to ensure that society protects them. Young people have very insecure economic positions not just in Ireland but around the western world at present. The terms of their employment, whether they have any pension provision in the future, their ability to access secure and affordable accommodation are all uncertainties in the lives of most people under 40. It is unusual that they find themselves in the position where their own economic security is less than what was the case for their parents. That is unusual for this country and the world. The State must recognise that we have a responsibility to repay to those young people the selfless acts they have engaged in. They are the people whose careers have been damaged as a result of the lockdown. We must ensure that we do not allow a large cohort of them to drift into long-term unemployment.

This is a very worthwhile Bill. I commend the Minister of State on steering it through the House. It will be of benefit to the country in trying to protect our society from the impact of long-term unemployment. However, we should not close ourselves off from other options that we made need to take off our own bat without having to rely on the EU to direct us. There is a very strong challenge ahead of us but for the future of the country and for the future of young people, who are our future, we need to ensure that we protect them from the ravages of long-term unemployment.

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