merrion street

Ministers Burton, Quinn and Cannon at the press conference today

Social Protection Minister, Joan Burton and Education Minister, Ruairí Quinn today published the Government’s plan to implement the Youth Guarantee.

Minister Burton spoke to MerrionStreet.ie in advance of the launch. Watch the video below:

The aim of the EU-wide Guarantee is to provide young people under the age of 25 with a good quality offer of employment, continued education, an apprenticeship or a traineeship within a short time of becoming unemployed.

The plan will see the Government launch a dedicated drive to provide the work, training and education opportunities that young jobseekers need, and details how the Youth Guarantee will be implemented over the course of 2014 and 2015.

Minister Burton said:

We have made good progress in restoring the economy to health and getting people back to work..... Youth unemployment in Ireland has fallen from a crisis peak of 33% to 25% now, but that remains unacceptably high and that is why the Youth Guarantee is so important. Research shows that spells of unemployment while young can leave permanent scars. We already have a lot of the component parts of the Youth Guarantee in place in Ireland, but we are going to build on them and ensure over time that young jobseekers get the opportunities they deserve to build the best possible futures for themselves, their families and their communities.

Minister Quinn said:

Education and training has a key role to play in delivering opportunities for young people who become unemployed. However, high quality education and training also stops the drift of young people into unemployment in the first place.... Our young people deserve the best chance possible to get rewarding and fulfilling careers and we can help them along that path through the provision of top-class further education and training which has a focus on the workplace.

It was agreed at EU level that the Guarantee would be introduced from 2014 onwards on a phased basis in those member states facing the most severe financial constraints, such as Ireland. In keeping with the Government’s broader focus on tackling long-term unemployment, the plan targets interventions, in the first instance, at those young people most at risk of long-term unemployment.

Therefore, over the course of 2014, processes and programmes will be progressively rolled out to ensure that young unemployed people who have a low probability of finding employment without significant support will receive a Youth Guarantee offer within four months. The Government expects to provide a Guarantee offer to circa 30,000 young people at the highest risk of long-term unemployment this year.

Starting in 2014, and for completion by the end of 2015, processes and programmes will be progressively rolled out to ensure that young unemployed people assessed as having a medium-to-high probability of finding employment will, if still unemployed after nine months, receive a Youth Guarantee Offer.