Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Those are stark statistics.

Almost half of under-25s are now unemployed, and when students are removed from that, we are still talking about one in three Irish people under the age of 25 being unemployed. That is absolutely startling. The Minister has today outlined a comprehensive response to that in terms of incentivising employment opportunities, apprenticeships and third level and further education places for those young people. We need to make sure they are not adversely affected in the long term, which is why I am pleased to hear the Minister outline her plan to tackle youth unemployment in Ireland.

See this speech in context