Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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168. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if she will reverse the decision to have a lower rate of social welfare payment for adults under 25 years of age; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11248/15]

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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222. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the annual funding required to restore the full adult rate of jobseeker's allowance to young persons under 26 years of age based on the numbers who are currently on €100 and €144 per week; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11752/15]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 168 and 222 together.

Reduced rates for younger jobseeker's allowance recipients were first introduced in 2009. Budget 2014 further extended the reduced rates of jobseeker's allowance to recipients under 26 years of age. This is a targeted measure aimed at protecting young people from welfare dependency. It aims to incentivise young jobseeker's allowance recipients to avail of education and training opportunities. If a jobseeker in receipt of the reduced jobseeker's allowance rate participates on an education or training programme they will receive a higher weekly payment of €160. Any change to provision in this area would be a matter for Government to consider in a Budgetary context.

Based on data from February, 2015 the additional full year cost of providing a weekly rate of €188 for all jobseeker's allowance recipients aged 25 and under is some €143m.

To guard against the development of welfare dependency I believe that it is necessary to provide young jobseekers with a strong financial incentive to engage in education or training or to take up employment. If they do not improve their skills, it will be much more difficult for them to avail of job opportunities as the economy recovers and they are at risk of becoming long term unemployed from a young age.

The Government's primary strategy to tackle youth unemployment is through policies to create the environment for a strong economic recovery by promoting competitiveness and productivity. Economic recovery will underpin jobs growth and the availability of productive employment for young people. This strategy has been succeeding, with an increase of over 80,000 in employment over the last two years.

Reflecting the improvement in the labour market, youth unemployment continues to fall. For example the youth unemployment rate in Ireland as estimated by Eurostat was 21.6% in December 2014 as compared to 30.8% in December 2011. However, the Government recognises that as the recovery takes hold, there is a need for additional measures to ensure that as many as possible of the jobs created are taken up by jobseekers and young jobseekers in particular. This is the rationale behind the Government's Pathways to Work strategy and the Youth Guarantee Implementation Plan.