James Doorley, NYCI Deputy Director.
MORE than 2,000 unemployed young people in Donegal have not been supported by Budget 2016, the National Youth Council of Ireland (NYCI) has claimed.
In response to Tuesday’s Budget announcement, the NYCI expressed disappointment that the Government has failed to reverse the deep cuts to jobseekers allowance for those under 26 in Budget 2016. Recent figures show that 2,472 young people in County Donegal are currently unemployed.
James Doorley, NYCI Deputy Director said: “We welcome the decline in youth unemployment in recent years, however, that drop has stalled and nationally we still have 40,000 young people on the live register with over 18,000 unemployed for one year or more. In Donegal alone there are 2,472 young jobseekers.
“NYCI had proposed the restoration of the full adult rate of €188 for young jobseekers under 26 who participate in initiatives such as the Back to Education Scheme, SOLAS funded training and JobBridge. This would have provided more support to young people moving into education, training and work experience. We are also concerned that there was no provision of additional funding to implement the Youth Guarantee in 2016” said Mr Doorley.
He continued: “While we welcome measures such as the increase in the minimum wage, as 39 per cent of those on this rate are under 30 years of age, and reductions in the USC for the low paid, it is extremely disappointing to see the lack of action regarding young jobseekers. “We were told that this budget was about ‘all sharing in the recovery’, however for young jobseekers this is clearly not the case” concluded Mr Doorley.
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