Dáil debates

Thursday, 25 November 2021

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions

 

12:10 pm

Photo of Holly CairnsHolly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

This is no country for young people and we have more evidence of that today. A new report has shown that the number of first-time buyers aged 30 or under has collapsed in the past 16 years, falling from 60% in 2004 to just 27% in 2020. These figures, while shocking, are just further confirmation of what we have all known for some time, which is that young people in Ireland have been handed a poisoned chalice. They will be the first generation who are less well off than their parents. Stagnant wages and soaring housing costs are largely to blame.

In the past eight years, house prices have doubled, growing by more than 12% in the past year alone. Rents have also doubled in a decade. While housing costs have skyrocketed, wages have flatlined and low pay is endemic. Is it any wonder that people in this cohort cannot buy a home before they hit 30? Many cannot even find a place to rent; buying is just a pipe dream. Generation rent is, in fact, generation spent, with a huge proportion stuck living at home. The census in 2016 found 50% of adults aged under 30 were living with their parents. What will that proportion be when the next census is published next year?

The job prospects and earning capacity of many of those now in their 30s were decimated by the crash in 2008 and have never recovered. The pandemic has further compounded this disadvantage, disproportionately impacting on young people's educational opportunities, social lives and earnings. When businesses closed, it was predominantly young people who lost jobs. Employment fell 14% below pre-pandemic levels for those aged 15 to 34, compared with just 6% for those aged over 35. The pandemic unemployment payment, PUP, was supposed to be evidence of a social contract extended to workers who lost their jobs to protect public health. That has been closed to new entrants and cut for existing recipients, despite the continuing restrictions in some sectors. Added to the mix now is a cost of living crisis that has seen inflation balloon to a 13-year high, making it even harder for people to make ends meet.

I have three questions for the Tánaiste. Why should young people have any faith in his Government? What is he doing to tackle the myriad cost of living crises young people face in this country? What is he doing to ensure history does not repeat itself and young people do not suffer the detrimental economic legacy of this pandemic in ten years' time, as happened after the 2008 crash?

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