Kathryn Reilly (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank all the Senators for their kind words. I thank the Leader, Senator Cummins, for facilitating this debate. I thank the Minister for taking part, Senators Power, Clune, van Turnhout, Moloney, Wilson, Noone, Mac Conghail, Keane, Conway, Mooney, Barrett, Moran and my Sinn Féin colleagues, Senators Ó Clochartaigh and Cullinane. One of the important things about this debate is that we always remember that what matters going forward is not the label guarantee but what we have in the youth guarantee.

I agree, and everybody would agree, with the Minister that long spells of unemployment cause permanent scars, especially for young people. In her contribution she said youth unemployment can be expected to fall relatively rapidly when recovery takes hold but, as a number of Senators reiterated here today, the implementation of this guarantee in Ireland needs to happen as a matter of urgency, given our high levels of youth unemployment. As I said, the issues cannot be put on a waiting list until the economic situation improves.

I asked a question on the role of the Department of Social Protection in the youth guarantee and I was definitely not questioning the Minister's bona fides and her dedication in terms of piloting and making this the flagship project of the Irish Presidency. I was questioning why the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation had not been taking a greater role. There were many questions, especially in terms of the youth organisations, when there is a lot of talk about back-to-work jobs anchored in the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation. I was not questioning the Minister's bona fides in that respect; it was just a question on the rationale for having the Department of Social Protection anchoring it instead of the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation.

I support the Minister's comments on the inclusivity of the guarantee and Senator Conway touched on it in terms of high levels of unemployment among other groups, especially people with disabilities. At the round-table discussion of the conference I attended this morning someone mentioned people who have left school by the age of 16. As the youth guarantee scheme does not kick in until they are 18, what happens for those two years for those people who are not in employment, education or training? We need to go further to try to assist these people in that age group between 16 and 18 years.

I welcome the support of Fianna Fáil. Senator Power mentioned that statistics do not capture the picture of emigration and they are silently unaccounted for. Senator Mac Conghail went into emigration again and it is important. Senator Power mentioned that we need to put our heads together on this issue at a continental level and I made that point in terms of how we move towards the €6 billion that has been earmarked at EU level towards the International Labour Organisation, ILO, target of €21 billion.

It requires greater thinking. That is why EU leadership has to come forward. I hope the initiative being brought forward by Angela Merkel on 3 July will go some way to expanding on the €6 billion and put a proper concerted effort into this issue. If we do not put the resources in now it could fall on its face. We do not want it to be just the label "guarantee" with measures which are not up to scratch. That is very important.