More training and education needed for young people, says Ó Ríordáin

The Government has been called on to implement a national training and education pathway for young people as youth unemployment rates continue to increase.

Labour TD for Dublin Bay North Aodhán Ó Ríordáin said: “We have a crisis in youth unemployment.

“Many young people have already been driven out of our towns and cities due to high rents and the cost of living.

“Young people are being ignored and disregarded by the Government and the number of unemployed continue to rise, the State and industry must step in with urgent support measures, otherwise we are at risk of losing a generation of young people to emigration having been let down by the State.”

Deputy Ó Ríordáin said that accessible training programmes for young people should be made more available.

“Instead, as youth unemployment skyrocketed and traditional opportunities to get on the career ladder dried up, this generation of young people have been ignored, potentially scarred for life by the uncertainty and insecurity they are currently experiencing in the labour market.

“Many valuable graduate programmes and internships have either been cancelled or shortened.

“Usually a valuable opportunity gain experience and begin developing a network, any young person lucky enough to get an internship is doing so online.

“Anyone who hasn’t been so lucky is facing another barrier to gaining employment when the economy reopens.

“Young people who have remained in jobs have had to make huge sacrifices for this, from pay cuts, increased hours with no right to disconnect, to having no opportunity to progress in their careers.”

Deputy Ó Ríordáin says that similar schemes have been proven to work elsewhere.

“There are good international examples of what’s possible out there is there was political will to tackle this problem such as the Ethical Recruitment Agency (ERA).

“Based in a community centre in Grimsby in the UK, where almost half of children grow up in poverty, the ERA establishes relationships with young people seeking work and helps them to retrain.

“If the State was to introduce such an agency in Ireland, we could undoubtedly target youth unemployment, particularly in disadvantaged areas, leading to fairer opportunities as the economy begins to recover. Such a scheme is doable if Government want to be ambitious for our young people.

“Any country with a youth unemployment rate of 56% needs to have that at the top of their agenda however as we seek to get young people back to work, recovery can’t just be in the cities.

“Young people in towns and villages have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic as employment opportunities are often characterised by insecure and seasonal employment, with much of the employment concentrated in small, often family run businesses.

“Coupled with a lack of frequent public transport, this is an area that really needs to be addressed strategically by Government.”