111. Deputy Sinéad Gibney asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment whether his Department is concerned about the rising rate of long-term unemployment and the rising rate of youth unemployment, which stands at nearly three times the average unemployment rate, according to the CSO; the measures his Department is taking to find the cause and address these issues in the Irish labour market; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2383/26]

Sentiment score: -0.27

The CSO's labour force survey before Christmas found that we have significant increases in youth and long-term unemployment. The youth unemployment rate is nearly three times the average unemployment rate and it is clearly becoming much harder for young people to find work. What is the Department doing to address this increasing gap in our labour market?

Sentiment score: -0.25

I find it frustrating that when we highlight issues or concerns about rising youth unemployment and long-term unemployment rates, they seem to be batted away with lines like those that the Taoiseach used earlier and that we are hearing now to the effect that we have got so many people in work, that the rate is record breaking and that this is the most important thing. Essentially, the point made is that we should all be grateful that people have jobs at all. Níl sé seo maith go leor. We have seen a distinct rise in youth unemployment that is incredibly out of step with the national average. The Minister of State compared us with Europe, but we need to compare our domestic youth unemployment rate with our general population unemployment rate. When we do so, we see the difficulty. In an uncertain labour market, where quality jobs and secure employment are being eroded, we must not have a Government deciding it is not an issue or focusing instead on the broader picture and not isolating this as the canary in the coalmine we know it to be in labour economics. Fifty thousand young people are without work. We are seeing companies row back on entry-level and graduate recruitment. If we do not act now to ensure a balanced labour market, we will have people on the back foot for their entire lives. How is this specifically being addressed?

Sentiment score: -0.10

I encourage the Minister of State to go beyond the numbers and talk to young people herself. The young people I speak to tell me about the difficulties they have in finding employment. Beyond the statistics that the Minister of State is setting out, we have to simply acknowledge this. As I mentioned, and as we know from history repeating itself, it is a canary in the coal mine. We know it is an indicator of a broader concern across unemployment. We know there has been an erosion in the quality of the work that is offered, particularly to younger people and other cohorts within our population. When I raise workers’ rights, the approach of this Government has been that job creation is enough, and we should be grateful that people have jobs in the first place. In a time of economic prosperity, where we are talking about the strength of our economy, our balance sheet and our enterprises, it is depressing not to see that translate to workers. Is cúis mhór imní anseo. A booming economy is cold comfort to people who cannot participate in that economy. Record corporation profits do not continue on to our society if companies are not employing people, if they treat their workers as disposable and if they do not provide quality jobs. What is the Government doing to tackle those issues head-on?

Sentiment score: 0.13