What Fine Gael would to tackle youth unemployment

24th February, 2010

unemployment dublin 1

Since 2007 there has been a 155% increase in the number of young people signing on. One in three men under 25 are now on the dole. We should not be forcing our young people to emigrate: we must provide opportunities here in Ireland.

Fine Gael has introduced a number of policies specifically aimed at helping young people get off the live register, and gain valuable education, skills and work experience. These proposals could take 30,000 young people off the live register in a single year.

National Internship Programme

13,000 part time placements would be provided for unemployed graduates in the public, private and voluntary sectors. Participants would be work half the week and receive entry-level pay in lieu of welfare. They would also receive a €3,000 education voucher to study for a Masters degree or additional qualifications for the rest of the week.

Second Chance Education Scheme

10,000 places would be made on a back to education scheme for youth with no Leaving Certificate or non-construction qualifications. Participants would receive two-thirds of the minimum wage (€11,670) and a cost of education allowance of €500 per year. A bonus of €3,000 will be paid on completion of the qualification.

Apprenticeship Guarantee

Opportunities for unemployed apprentices would be provided on OPW schemes.

Community Employment (CE) Schemes

5,000 extra places will be made available on CE schemes. Priority on these schemes will be given to young people.

Workshare

We would retain 10,000 jobs by implementing a workshare scheme, providing government support and training for enterprises and their employees that opt for short-time work instead of redundancies.

We have published a full report on our proposals to reduce youth unemployment by a third. It can be accessed here.