Young people's wellbeing must be at core of Budget 2027

Mental health supports, spaces to meet without spending and a more secure housing market are all priorities for young people

'We need places to belong. Across Ireland, safe and affordable “third spaces”, places outside home, school and work where we can meet and socialise without having to spend money are disappearing rampantly.'

Yesterday marked UN International Youth Day, under the theme 'Different Contexts, Common Aspirations'. It is worth asking what that means for young people in Ireland like me. Our circumstances may differ, but our aspirations are remarkably similar. We want to live, study, work, build relationships, find somewhere to call home and feel hopeful about our future.

Yet for too many young people, those basic ambitions are becoming harder to achieve due to current instability and difficulties envisioning a future that is one of peace, justice and social needs being met.

A young person waiting months for mental health support may also be worrying about whether they can afford their rent, get to college or work, or find somewhere to meet friends without having to spend money. These are not separate problems. They are different parts of the same challenge: whether young people can be supported to thrive.

That is why Budget 2027 must be more than a collection of individual measures. It must address the range of conditions shaping young people's wellbeing.

Mental health starts before crisis 

The need for action is particularly clear when it comes to mental health. Since its inception, Text About It by spunout has supported 250,000 conversations and exchanged 7.9m messages. Of those who reached out, 60% said it was the first time they had ever shared what they were going through. More than one in four said they had nobody else to talk to, while 16% said they could not access therapy.

This tells us something important: the problem is not simply that we are experiencing distress. We are reaching a point where we need support without having anywhere else to turn.

Budget 2027 should therefore take a decisive step towards the Sláintecare target of allocating 10% of total health spending to mental health. That means a vital €250m investment in early intervention, community supports and reducing CAMHS waiting lists.

But mental health policy cannot stop at clinical services. Prevention also means creating communities where young people feel connected in the first place.

We need places to belong. Across Ireland, safe and affordable “third spaces”, places outside home, school and work where we can meet and socialise without having to spend money are disappearing at pace.

That matters. Belonging is not a luxury. It is part of wellbeing. Belonging nurtures safety and when people feel safe they have a better quality of life.

Isolation and depression

We know that the first EU-wide survey on loneliness found Ireland to be the loneliest county in the EU, with young people being at higher risk of loneliness than other age cohorts. At spunout, one in five young people using Text About It experiences pervasive isolation, closely linked with anxiety and depression.

If we are serious about preventing crises, we need to invest in the places and relationships that help prevent them from developing.

That is why we support the National Youth Council of Ireland’s call for a €75mYoung People’s Spaces, Facilities and Services Fund. This could help kickstart one-stop-shop Youth Hubs across the country, transforming vacant local buildings into accessible spaces where young people can socialise while also finding  mental health guidance, advice and career support.

That investment should be matched by the necessary €27.3m boost to the youth work sector. Youth workers and youth organisations are already building the connections that young people need. They deserve the resources to do it at the scale required.

A budget that matches our generation's ambition. As a young person in Ireland today, it can cause great anxiety to think about the future. All around us are friends who are struggling to make ends meet, struggling to find crucial mental health support and getting buried by the cost of living.

Despite the challenges, we continue to lead on climate action, tackling injustice, supporting our communities and challenging the stigma around mental health. We are not waiting passively for someone else to solve these problems. We are already building the change we want to see.

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The theme of this year's International Youth Day recognises that young people can grow up in very different contexts while sharing common aspirations. Regardless of race, economics, gender, disability, geography, those aspirations are simple. They are to feel safe, to belong, to access support when we need it, and to have a realistic chance of building a good life.

Budget 2027 is an opportunity to make those aspirations more achievable.

We do not need a budget that simply tells young people to be more resilient while making the conditions around them harder to navigate. We need one that invests in the foundations of a good life such as mental health, community, housing, education and mobility.

Our generation has the energy to build Ireland's future, now we need a budget that is willing to back us.

Ebere is a social justice activist and law graduate from Maynooth University. She has extensive experience with student engagement and student leadership during her time in university. Ebere is also the last student observer on the STAND Board of Directors. Ebere is on spunout's Dublin and BAME Action Panels and has contributed to the voices section.