Substantial increase in youth training allowance rate required

THE recent article by Niall Murray, under the heading ‘Concern at youth jobless figures’, is depressing news for many of our young people. 

This report covered the concerns of the National Youth Council of Ireland about the unemployment situation, with figures at the end of June showing that almost 19,000 young people were on the Live Register for one year or more.

I fully support the Youth Council in its call on the Government to restore the adult rate of €188 a week for all young people in education, training, and work experience programmes. The training allowance for young people on a range of schemes has been cut to €160 a week by the current and previous governments. How nasty. There are no cuts, however, in the salaries and pensions paid to our parliamentarians. To help young people, Government must increase substantially this training allowance in the budget.

One of the most depressing experiences one can have is to meet some of the many young people currently out of work. Ireland has an abundance of talented people who have left second and third-level schools with impressive qualifications and little hope of securing secure employment in their own country. I have many young people on file in search of employment and the only acknowledgement they get is “we regret”. I have architects, engineers, teachers, plumbers, all waiting and living in hope for months on end, to get a call to the workplace.

Local authorities were good employers for engineers, architects, and plumbers, but the Government embargo on staff recruitment has created another closed door on job creation.

Ireland has an unhappy history of squandering its natural resources. At this time our greatest ever resource is untapped because young, able, articulate, and intelligent men and women have no outlet for their talents.

Hardships caused by unemployment can be devastating, especially for the age group 18-35. This is the time when education has just been completed, partnerships are being formed, families are being planned and mortgages must be paid. For somebody 55-60 who has had long-term employment, these financial hardships should not exist, as families have been reared and mortgage repayments are less intimidating.

The tax-cuts brigade will have to be challenged. We need a radical shift in the tax burden onto the wealthy, and corporate profits. My hope for the future is that more doors will open for those who have been knocking on them without success.

Cllr Noel Collins

‘St Jude’s’

Midleton

Co Cork