Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I very much appreciate the concern all the Senators in the House properly have about youth unemployment and about the concept of giving opportunities to young people who unfortunately find on leaving school or college, sometimes with advanced educational qualifications, that they cannot get a job. We had a long debate on this yesterday and we all agreed that is not desirable from the perspective of the young individual or that of society. As I explained to Senator Healy Eames yesterday, we are putting together the framework for the youth guarantee. I am going to Paris next week with the Taoiseach to work on the second stage of what was agreed among European countries at the last meeting in Berlin. The reason I am going is that I prioritised this for the Irish Presidency and got the agreement in Dublin last February that Ireland would do this.