Diarmuid Wilson (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Some 31,181 under-25s emigrated in the year up to April 2012. I propose that this is much higher now. Some 18% of young people are not in education, employment or training, the fourth highest rate in the EU. The Minister has disputed these figures here but they are the correct statistics from Europe. Of the 333 actions listed in the 2013 Action Plan for Jobs by this Government, only four relate to youth unemployment. That is outrageous.

As the Minister said, the European Council recommended in February 2013 that €6 billion be set aside for the youth guarantee scheme. Last Friday I attended a conference organised by my colleague, Senator Reilly, in Cavan. That conference was addressed by a number of experts, some of them officials from the European Community, and the representative from the European Youth Forum and youth guarantee said a minimum of €21 billion would be required to accommodate another startling statistic, the 7.5 million young people in the European Union who are not in employment, education or training. So €21 billion would be required, not €6 billion. That €21 billion is based on the region having a minimum of 25% youth unemployment. What about the regions that have 24% or 23%? They do not qualify for anything. If we divide the €6 billion proposed by Europe by the number of unemployed people in this country who would qualify, that would give them a little more than €6,000 each. Is that acceptable? It is not acceptable to me. It may be to the Government. I accept and appreciate that it is a proposed figure and is not finalised, and I request that the Government fight as hard as it can before the end of its Presidency to ensure that €6 billion is dramatically increased so the young people we are referring to, who are still in our country, can be facilitated and accommodated.

I commend the Minister on the JobBridge scheme. It is an excellent scheme. I have first-hand knowledge of it. More than 17,000 people have availed of it since its inception. If we are to believe the statistics, and I have no reason not to, three out of five have got employment and I commend everybody involved in it. The Minister mentioned that 6,000 young people are engaged in Youthreach. If the Government had not cut the budget for Youthreach by 25% we could have 12,000 young people involved in the programme which is an excellent programme of education and training. We could have 6,000 more than we have now, and there is a long waiting list to get on the programme. The Minister mentioned the back to education programme, another excellent programme in which 6,000 young people are involved. Again the budget was cut by 25%. If it was increased by 25%, that scheme could cater for 12,000 young people.

The Minister also referred to FÁS. Again, 6,000 young people received training and apprenticeships. However, again, that budget was slashed by 30%. Had it been increased by 30% we would have an additional 6,000 young people on it. They are the true facts. That is the reality. It is time this Government woke up to the reality of the situation. I know money is tight, but to cut budgets for vulnerable young people involved in Youthreach, the back to education allowance and FÁS schemes is totally unacceptable. To pay lip service to it is not acceptable to me or my party. I commend Senator Reilly for putting forward this motion. We will fully support it. I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy McGinley, to the House.