Further austerity will harm young people, National Youth Council warns

The National Youth Council has warned young people will suffer if the Government continues to focus on austerity.

The NYCI will meet the Oireachtas Finance Committee later to make a pre-budget submission on what they like to see in October.

According to the NYCI, more needs to be done to break the cycle of youth unemployment and emigration.

"If we continue to focus on cuts and continue to focus on austerity, well then, unfortuantely, young people will suffer," said NYCI spokesperson is James Doorley.

"Young people … really are very dependent on jobs in sectors like the retail sector, the services sector, [and] the hospitality sector, that really are very dependent on [the] domestic … economy," he said.

Over the last five years almost 200,000 people between the ages of 18 and 25 have left the country.

This coincides with a youth unemployment rate in excess of 28%, the highest in Western Europe.