Young people signing on the dole 'just not on', Quinn says

The Minister for Education, Ruairí Quinn, has said that unemployment benefit needs to be made unattractive to young people so that it will be treated as a last resort.

"No young person should be able to say at age 19, 'I'm better off on the dole than going training'," he told reporters in the wake of the budget.

"It's just not on - whatever about being a young parent, or being 27, 28 with responsibilities – but at 18 or 21, they should not be able to do a calculation in their own head [or] on the back of an envelope and say I'm better off drawing the labour."

His comments come in the wake of today's budget announcement that dole payments for those aged 18-24 would be reduced to €100 per week, rising to €144 for 25-year-olds, before being entitled to the full benefit amount of €188 upon turning 26.

The reduction will apply to new applicants only, and current benefit recipients will not see their payment reduced.

The Minister for Social Protection also defended the cutting of jobseeker's allowance for young adults.

"Signing on for Jobseeker's Allowance on a person's 18th birthday - it's not the start to adult life that any parent would want for their child," she said.

"We really have to be more ambitious for our young people."