Written answers
Monday, 8 September 2025
Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment
Youth Unemployment
Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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696. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment in view of youth unemployment at 12.2% more than double the national average, the steps the Government will take to prevent a lost generation. [46263/25]
Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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According to the latest monthly unemployment data, released by the Central Statistics Office on 7 August 2025, the youth unemployment rate was 12.2% in July 2025, an increase from 10.8% recorded in July of last year. There were 46,000 young people aged 15-24 years who were recorded as unemployed, an increase of 5,300 compared to the same period one year earlier. This compares to an overall unemployment rate of 4.9% in July 2025, up from a revised rate of 4.3% recorded in July 2024. Ireland’s youth unemployment rate compares favourably with European averages. In July 2025, the youth unemployment rate was 14.4% in the EU and 13.9% in the euro area.
It is not unusual for youth unemployment rates to be higher than those of older cohorts. This can be due to a lack of relevant work experience among younger workers, skills mismatches, or difficulties experienced moving from education to employment for the first time. However, these factors are temporary in nature; as young people widen their professional networks and gain broader work and life experience their employment prospects improve.
The Government’s Pathways to Work 2021–2025 strategy, overseen by the Department of Social Protection, includes a comprehensive set of measures specifically designed to support young people in entering and sustaining employment. These measures include:
- 50,000 further and higher education training places to help young people gain relevant skills,
- 10,000 apprenticeships to support hands-on learning and career development,
- Employers who hire young people from the Live Register can receive recruitment subsidies of €7,500 to €10,000,
- 1,000 places are ring-fenced for young people on Community Employment and Tús programmes,
- Young jobseekers are assigned a dedicated case officer through Intreo to guide them back into work,
- 150 job promotion events are hosted annually to connect youth with opportunities.
In May 2024, my Department and the Department of Social Protection jointly launched the Employment and Youth Engagement Charter. The Charter is a key measure under the Government’s Pathways to Work objectives to engage companies in delivering activities to support people looking to enter or re-enter the workplace. The Charter provides a framework to collaborate with employers to support and inspire young jobseekers and other priority groups to build their knowledge, skills and experience to enhance their employability. More than 230 employers have signed the Charter to date.
Unemployment can occur either due to a mismatch of skills for available roles, sometimes a lack of confidence brought on by unemployment, or a lack of knowledge of the most effective ways to find work. The Government is committed to providing young jobseekers with additional supports and interventions to help them get a job or to understand what a job in a particular sector might be like, so they can gain valuable experience.
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