Fine Gael Innovation Spokeswoman Deirdre Clune TD has described Budget 2010 as an invitation to emigrate to young people.

Budget 2010 will encourage the export of our young people. The Government is ignoring youth unemployment, making little or no effort to stimulate job creation, while slashing jobseeker’s payments to those aged under 25. Its message to young people is clear: leave Ireland. If you want a future, go abroad.

For new social welfare applicants, the rate of jobseekers benefit and supplementary welfare allowance for those aged 20 and 21 with no dependent children is being reduced to €100 per week. For those aged between 22 and 24 years, allowances will fall to €150 per week.

CSO figures (pdf 111KB) show that youth unemployment has jumped by 51,126 in the last two years. In November 2007 some 32,236 people under the age of 25 were on the live register. By November 2009 this had increased to 83,362, an increase of 158.6%.

Some towns have seen a devastating increase in youth unemployment in the last two years. Youth unemployment has increased by over 300% in Westport, Co. Mayo; Killorglin, Co. Kerry; Maynooth, Co. Kildare and Bantry, Skibbereen, Macroom & Newmarket in Co. Cork.

Fine Gael has proposed a set of measures designed to tackle youth unemployment including supporting work-share policies, a National Internship Programme, and education, community employment & apprenticeship schemes. We have also proposed pro-jobs tax cuts, support for small businesses and a NewERA stimulus package designed to encourage job creation across the country. (pdf 79KB)

The Government has ignored these proposals and failed to replace them with anything positive themselves.

Economic recovery requires innovative leadership, not wishful thinking from a Government blatantly out of touch with reality.