Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein)
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29. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the measures in place to assist those under 25 years of age who are unemployed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, in particular those that have recently graduated; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25209/20]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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As the economy has reopened, the number of persons reliant on State income supports introduced to cushion the shock of the pandemic has been declining. By August the Covid-19 adjusted unemployment rate had reduced to 15% from a high of 28% in April. However, the corresponding rate for under 25s remains high, at almost 38%, just slightly down on the 45% high of April. In part this is due to the fact that many students whose colleges closed to attendance in March 2020 are receiving the Pandemic Unemployment Payment; full-time students would not normally be counted as unemployed. so we need to be careful in interpreting the statistics.

Nevertheless we know from previous experience that young people do suffer disproportionately from employment shocks. This is because most employers operate a 'last in first out' approach to lay-offs and because young people tend to be over represented in the occupations most prone to employment fluctuations.

I am therefore focussed on giving our young people the best possible chance to find their footing in the labour market, particularly those who are either entering the world of work for the first time or those disadvantaged youths who were unemployed prior to the pandemic and face barriers to accessing work.

This commitment is emphasised in the July Jobs Stimulus, a multi-billion euro package which aims to kick start our economy and protect workers and business. My Department, along with the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, will deliver on a number of key actions to assist young people back to work, including:

- Extending and expanding funded job placement and work experience programmes to keep young people aligned to the labour market.

- Providing employers with incentives to recruit apprentices.

- Encouraging employers to hire young jobseekers from the Live Register – in particular through targeted recruitment subsidies.

- Providing 35,500 new places in further and higher education courses.

- Extending access to Back to Education Schemes

- Increasing the capacity of our State Employment Schemes to take on and provide occupational activity to young people who are long-term unemployed.

Targeted funding programmes for higher education will also be available for young people to develop skills for the future world of work, including Springboard Plus and Human Capital Initiatives.

Finally, my Department is now developing the Pathways to Work 2020-2025 strategy which will seek to build on the work of the July Jobs Stimulus in assisting young people with their journey to employment.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.