Fintan Warfield (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I wish to talk about young people in the context of the budget and to state my disappointment that those who are under the age of 26 have yet again been left out in the cold. From March, those aged 18 to 24 will get €112.70 and those aged 25 will get €157.80, while everyone else will get €203 a week. The financial disparity in this measure is frightfully ageist. It treats as children those who are legally adults and who have adult financial responsibilities. This discrimination creates a poverty trap which the likes of Focus Ireland have stated is one of the biggest contributors to youth homelessness. We should remember that youth unemployment is double the overall rate. I call on the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection to come to this House. She boasted a €361.6 million expenditure increase in the social welfare budget. This could have been catered for on a phased basis.

We should also remember that every €1 spent on youth services saves the State €2.20 in the long run. Youth work took a 31% cut during the crisis. It still has not benefited from the recovery, and yesterday the National Youth Council of Ireland expressed its disappointment at the Government's announcement of just €1.5 million in additional funding for youth services. In the youth work sector, we are talking about 1,400 staff supported by 40,000 volunteers and supporting 380,000 young people. With further resources, youth organisations could make an even greater contribution towards addressing issues of youth unemployment, social exclusion and poverty. There will be a growing demand for these services as our youth population hits 1 million by 2025.