With youth unemployment almost doubling in the last 12 months, Fine Gael Innovation Spokeswoman Deirdre Clune TD has called on Tánaiste Minister Mary Coughlan to introduce a detailed plan to tackle the spiralling number of young people losing their jobs.

The unemployment figures for December 2008 show that 62,311 people under the age of 25 are now on the live register, almost double the figure of 33,289 in December 2007 (link to pdf 98KB). This dramatic rise in youth unemployment is a serious warning that only a completely incompetent Government would continue to ignore.

These are the youngest members of the workforce and include those that have just completed full-time education or training. They are the most mobile age group who have the least commitments which require them to remain in Ireland. If they do not find employment or training within a reasonable time or feel they have a good future in Ireland they are likely to move abroad.

It has become increasingly common over the last few months to hear of young Irish people planning to emigrate, or who have already moved abroad to find work. There is a serious danger of a brain drain as a result of our youngest people leaving the country which will be very damaging for the economy in the long term.

The Taoiseach and Tánaiste seem incapable of recognising the serious long-term consequences of the current level of youth unemployment. To date the Government’s response to the rapid growth in youth unemployment has been naïve, short-sighted and leaderless.

The Government needs to improve Irish competitiveness to protect existing jobs, give employers PRSI relief on any additional staff they take on to help create new jobs in this difficult time and introduce a targeted programme to retrain and up-skill young people on the live register.