Sharon Keogan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister. Mol an óige agus tiocfaidh sí; praise the young and they will flourish. Many of us will recall this Irish saying from our schooldays. Indeed, there is great wisdom and merit in that saying. However, praise can only do so much. The youth of Ireland need support, especially as we emerge from 14 or 15 months of rolling lockdowns that have affected them severely. Fifteen months is a long time in anyone's life, particularly a child or a young person. Young people are at a crucial time of personal development. At the same time, they are trying to progress in education, sport, socially and in the workplace. There has been a growing body of expert opinion and research on the manifold harms that lockdowns have had on people, particularly, in the context of this discussion, young people.

I call for a critical look at whether all aspects of restrictions affecting young people were necessary, proportionate and medically justified. The impact of the lockdowns imposed by the Government and National Public Health Emergency Team, NPHET, on the mental health and well-being of teenagers is, understandably, critically important to allow us to respond in a more nuanced way in the future. Dr. Caroline Heary from the school of psychology in the National University of Ireland, NUI, Galway has stated:

These prolonged periods of social distancing are occurring during a critical stage of life for our teenagers. Social interactions are of paramount importance for our young people. The social environment is critical for brain development, the development of self and general wellbeing.

Like many other demographic groups, the youth have all been in the same storm but have not all weathered the storm in the same vessel. Research and anecdotal evidence alike indicate that the lockdowns have impacted more severely on the youth than others. I have been inundated with heartbreaking accounts of hardship endured by parents and families of children and adolescents with special needs. It is a moral imperative that we do not leave anyone out of the recovery. There are already too many people contending with disadvantage, finding themselves at the periphery of society and excluded from economic participation. I believe the Minister to be a caring and genuine person. I ask him to do all he can to mobilise the resources of his Department to support young people with disabilities, their families, carers and organisations that assist them.

My amendment to the motion proposes an interdepartmental approach to be taken by the Departments of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth; Education; Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media and Health to design a scheme that is universally available to young people to provide them with free access to a range of different pursuits.In the spirit of the Fine Gael motion, I would encourage engagement with young people themselves for ideas as to the range and breadth of activities that might be included in any such scheme. The next step might be to invite expressions of interest from the private sector in the range of areas identified. Services and amenities for young people in this country are sorely lacking compared with our European peers, suffering from decades of underinvestment. Lockdown has merely served to magnify these failures.

The housing crisis, low wages, unemployment, lockdown, disruption to education and healthcare, along with the lack of social outlets, have all put tremendous strain on our young people. Prior to the pandemic, our youth were already finding themselves being relegated to the bottom of the social and economic equality charts. I have a well-founded fear that the pandemic could deepen intergenerational inequality.

The Covid-adjusted youth unemployment figures of 61.8% for April floored me. To put this statistic in perspective, it is over double the peak rate of youth unemployment after the 2008 economic crash, a crash that sparked another lamentable Irish diaspora. Behind the appalling statistics, however, are literally hundreds of thousands of young people. They are in the spring and summer of their lives with hopes, dreams and aspirations that need to be nurtured not crushed. It behoves the Government to deploy all the available resources of the State to support our youth and to give them options other than that of obtaining a Covid-19 cert and a one-way plane ticket to distant shores.

The Government's voted current expenditure is running to almost €75 billion in budget 2021. In light of this, should we be applauding an increase of €5 million in funding for youth services? Can we not see the value of investing more in our youth? I urge the Government to do everything possible to assist the private sector to generate employment opportunities. The Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Deputy Harris, is doing well with regard to youth unemployment.

We must do everything possible to support enterprise, advanced education and training opportunities. I fully endorse the amendments brought forward by me and my Independent colleagues which put flesh on the bones of these motions. I will conclude with a warning from Barra Roantree, an economist with the ESRI and a co-author of the report, Poverty, Income Inequality and Living Standards in Ireland, which states:

These findings should be a cause of serious concern. While the most serious medical impacts of Covid have been on older people, it is clear that the greatest impact in the labour market is being felt by younger workers.

To minimise the potential ‘scarring’ effect on young adults, policymakers should ramp up capacity on high-quality training programmes in the months ahead. Policies that act to tackle the root causes of high rents will also disproportionately benefit younger adults who risk otherwise being left behind.

A scheme like I have suggested would put all youths on an equal footing to develop into their best selves. Surely that is what we should aspire to give all our youth. That is exactly what Senator Ruane was talking about.