Fianna Fáil has published a strategy on youth unemployment, setting out a range of ambitious policies aimed specifically at providing work opportunities for young people.
Mayo Fianna Fáil TD Dara Calleary pointed out that there are currently 2,104 people under the age of 25 on the Live Register in Co Mayo. The Ballina Deputy said so far there have been no specific policies to help them to start a career here in Ireland.
“The unemployment crisis has undoubtedly hit the younger generation the hardest. The latest figures show that there are now 2,104 young people across Co Mayo who are unemployed and thousands more who have been forced to leave home to find work. This is heartbreaking for so many families. We urgently need an ambitious action plan to deal with this crisis,” said Deputy Calleary.
“Politicians from all parties have a responsibility to show our young people that we are working hard to bring forward ideas on job creation and that we will not allow this generation to be drawn into a cycle of emigration and long term unemployment.
“Fianna Fáil is bringing forward a range of sector specific initiatives to provide our young people with the best possible chance of starting a career at home and ensuring the younger generation has the skills needed to attract more jobs into the future. Our proposals include training 100,000 young job seekers with ICT skills over the next four years to address the immediate skills shortage in the technology sector; strengthening and expanding JobBridge to add 5,000 more places for graduates under 25; introducing extensive graduate programmes to all the state supported banks; dramatically reforming education, welfare, and employment services introducing education and training vouchers on a pilot basis.
“This is a realistic and affordable plan that will make a real difference to young people in Mayo and across the country who are out of work. It will require an investment of €52 million but the cost of not taking any action is far greater. Apart from the huge social cost of a generation being underemployed, the total social welfare bill for young job-seekers is €1 billion at present. We consider this strategy an affordable and urgently required investment in our young people and in the future of this country,” said Deputy Calleary.
