Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. The current rates of welfare payments for young people were constructed to incentivise young jobseekers aged 18 to 24 years to access further education and training, with the aim of improving employment outcomes. A young person who takes up a place on a training, education or employment programme qualifies for the full adult rate of payment. In this way, the State is seeking to address the issue raised in the EU and elsewhere of the so-called NEETs, that is, young people who are not in employment, education or training. A number of countries have similarly reduced unemployment payments for young jobseekers.

The initial evidence in Ireland in a report by Maynooth University was that the age-related rates had a positive impact, with a reduction of over 50% in average unemployment durations for people aged 18. Of course, one of the consequences of this approach is that young people who do not take up an employment, education or training programme receive a lower payment. It is important, therefore, that we balance the incentive or progression effect against the income impact on people who do not take up employment, education or training. Accordingly, in order to inform future policy direction, my Department undertook a poverty impact assessment on the reduced rates of jobseeker's payments for young people. The outcome of this assessment is currently under consideration and I intend to publish the report shortly.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, young people were among the first to lose their jobs due to the fact the sectors that traditionally employ young people, such as retail and hospitality, were particularly badly affected. To address this issue, the PUP was made available to students, who would not normally receive an unemployment payment. Many of the sectors that traditionally employed young people are now reopening and actively hiring new staff. A key priority for the Government is to get young people back to work. I plan to launch Pathways to Work in July.

See this speech in context