John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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2. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the progress of the report into the impact of the reduced jobseeker's payment rates for jobseekers aged 18 to 25 years of age, as committed to in the Pathways to Work 2016-2020 strategy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29008/16]

John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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In a number of budgets from 2009 onwards, discriminatory cuts were made to jobseeker's payments for those under 26 years of age by both Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil. Young people were one of the first groups to shoulder the burden in the early stages of the economic crisis and these cuts have left 18 to 24 years olds on €100 per week, 25 year olds on €144 per week and those aged 26 and upwards on €188 per week. A report, to which the Government had committed, to examine the impact these cuts have had has still not been published. Where is the report committed to in the in the Pathways to Work strategy? Will the Minister acknowledge that the cuts that were first introduced by Fianna Fáil and followed up by Fine Gael have been discriminatory to those under 26 years of age?

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The CSO's most recent monthly unemployment figures released this week show that youth unemployment had fallen to 15.9% in September. This is a significant decrease of five percentage points, from 20.9%, in the past 12 months. Therefore, in just the past year youth unemployment has fallen from over 20% to 15.9%. The overall unemployment rate fell by 1.2 percentage points in the same period, from 9.1% to 7.9%.

Reduced rates for younger jobseeker’s allowance recipients were first introduced in 2009 under the Fianna Fáil-Green Party Government and were further extended to apply to jobseekers under 26 years of age by the Fine Gael-Labour Party Government in subsequent budgets. These measures were introduced as they were considered to prevent young people from entering welfare dependency by providing young jobseekers with a strong financial incentive to engage in education or training or to take up employment. Should a young jobseeker on a reduced jobseeker’s allowance payment participate in an education or training programme, he or she will receive a higher weekly payment of €160.

The review of jobseeker’s allowance rates for young persons under 26 years of age will examine the effectiveness of the reduced rates in encouraging young jobseekers to avail of education, training, employment programmes and opportunities. As part of a wider effort to encourage and promote research based on the Department’s administrative data, researchers from the National University of Ireland Maynooth have been provided with data on all jobseeker's allowance claims since 2007 for persons aged under 28 years. They intend looking specifically at the impact of changes in rates on the duration of young people’s claims and on their subsequent employment experience after exiting from unemployment. It is hoped that their analysis will have preliminary results before the end of the year.

The Department of Social Protection continues to identify effective measures to support young people in finding and securing sustainable jobs through engagement processes and by incentivising them to avail of educational and training opportunities, thereby enhancing their employment prospects.

John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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I am not talking about unemployment rate, I was referring to the rates for the unemployed. The Minister may have missed that point. The OECD report to which the Minister referred, which was released yesterday, showed that Ireland has the highest rate of young people receiving unemployment and disability benefits across all 35 member countries of the OECD. The rate in question relates to over one quarter of people aged between 16 to 29 years of age. The Minister will have to agree that this is a shocking statistic but I await his response to the question as to whether he believes the cuts implemented are discriminatory, which is certainly the case.

We are all very aware of the Minister's attitude towards young people. At a recent committee meeting he stated:

... young people coming to Ireland get off the plane from Eastern Europe, from countries such as Poland, probably with neither good English nor good qualifications, and within a week or two they find a job ... we must ask why any young person in Ireland, particularly in this economy where jobs are not that hard to find, is in a situation ....

That is unacceptable. The cuts that have been made are discriminatory. There are no incentives for young people to get back to work. I put the question again to the Minister about those cuts being discriminatory.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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If the Deputy is going to quote me, he may wish to quote me in full. Our attitude is very different. The Deputy is interested in welfare rates for young people. I am interested in getting young people into work. Youth unemployment has fallen by 23% in the past year; it has decreased from over 20% to 15.9%, which means that youth unemployment is falling substantially faster than general unemployment. That must be happening for a reason. It is not necessarily because of the rates being lowered but is, rather, a reflection of our policies - as a suite of measures - being successful.

The OECD report is inaccurate. First, it refers to figures from 2014.

This is not 2014; it is nearly the end of 2016. A lot has happened in the Irish economy in the past two years. It also uses data from the survey on income and living conditions, SILC, rather than from the actual unemployment data. If one looks at the unemployment data, youth unemployment in Ireland is now below the OECD average.

Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy has one final minute.

John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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All we have are the figures in front of us. Some of the most recent figures released by Focus Ireland show the impact of cuts to the under-26s. I am interested in the rates because they are having a direct impact on youth homelessness. If one looks at the figures that have been published by Focus Ireland and other organisations they show that young people are more at risk of homelessness. That is a result of numerous measures including the cuts to jobseeker's payments. The Minister's Government sent back €30 million in European funding for a youth guarantee, which was a specific initiative to get young people back to work. I question the Minister's sincerity in trying to ensure that young people get back to work when the Government handed back €30 million of funds that could have been directly accessed to get these people back to work. Sinn Féin is committed to reversing some of these cuts, particularly the cuts to young people. We have committed to a €40 increase in jobseeker's payment for the under-26s in our budget submission.

Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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Thank you, Deputy.

John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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Will the Minister commit to reversing these discriminatory cuts, as Sinn Féin has, with €40 this year and €40 next year to bring it back up to the €188 that it was? Will the Minister commit to ending this discrimination against young people and restoring the cuts that have been introduced by Fianna Fáil and continued by the Minister's Government?

Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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Deputy, please. The Minister has a final minute.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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No, I will not commit to that. Even though the rates are lower, they are still much higher than in Northern Ireland where the Deputy's party has been in Government for a very long time. I will commit to continuing to bring down youth unemployment-----

John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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The Minister is not answering-----

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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-----which is already down.

John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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He is hiding behind false facts.

Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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No interruptions, please. The Deputy went way over his time. Please do not interrupt the Minister. I have given the Deputy a lot of latitude.

John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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The Minister throws in this red herring time and time again.

Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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Will the Deputy please allow the Minister to reply?

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I would-----

Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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It is true; it is less in Northern Ireland.

Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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Deputy Brady-----

John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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Fianna Fáil started these cuts. The Deputy should just sit there because Fianna Fáil started the cuts.

Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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When Sinn Féin has power it does nothing.

Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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Deputy O'Dea-----

John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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The Deputy is better off just sitting there-----

Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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It is easier to talk when-----

John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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The Deputy is better off just sitting there because Fianna Fáil is as guilty.

Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputies are eating into the time.

Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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It is easier to spend money when-----

Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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Deputy Brady and Deputy O'Dea should allow the Minister to reply.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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What I have said is that jobseeker's rates for young people in Northern Ireland are much lower than they are in the Republic of Ireland. Deputy Brady has said that is untrue. I would welcome a fact check on that, perhaps on thejournal.ie. We will see how that comes out.

John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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I am saying the Minister should work with us to have one system across the State as opposed to Westminster dictating the rates. The Minister knows the facts.

Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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Can we move on to Question No. 3, please? The Deputy has had more than his time.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I did not have a chance to give my answer because I was interrupted twice.

Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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I will give the Minister an opportunity because he was interrupted.

John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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He was not providing an answer; he was giving red herrings.

Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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Will the Deputy allow the Minister to speak? Nobody interrupted Deputy Brady.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I will give an answer. May I be permitted to speak? This is still a democracy.

Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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Will Deputy Brady let the Minister reply without interruption?

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I will not make the commitment the Deputy seeks. What I will commit to is to continue to reduce youth unemployment which is down substantially this year. If there are any increases, they will be increases given to young people who take up education and training opportunities. I do not think somebody who is 18 or 19, many of whom are living at home with their parents, should get €188 a week. I do not think that is good for them.

John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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The only policy that is working for is emigration.

Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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Deputy, please. We are moving on to Question No. 3. Deputy Willie O'Dea has 30 seconds to introduce the question.