Creating Policies that Work - Actions to Tackle Youth and Long-Term Unemployment

Today, I co-launched the Oireachtas Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Committee's report which aims to address the twin scourges of youth and long-term unemployment.

The cross-party report -  Creating Policies that Work; Actions to Address Youth and Long-Term Unemployment - recommends 35 policy actions that need to be taken in the short, medium and long term to tackle unemployment.


The Facts

Youth unemployment is Ireland is currently 29.9% and long-term unemployment accounted for 59.5% of those out of work in late 2012.

These figures also disguise challenges of poor literacy, structural unemployment, inadequate skills and concentrations of unemployment in certain areas.

For these reasons, we need more tailored approaches to these challenges.

The Report

Creating Policies that Work takes a three-pronged approach to the jobs crisis with recommendations which:

1) Keep young people and jobseekers engaged with the jobs market through work placement, training and education

2) Focus on securing funding for investment and job creation; and

3) Match jobseekers with suitable jobs, with the co-operation of the public and private sectors.

The report also breaks policy recommendation down into short, medium and long-term goals. The key recommendations that can be introduced in the short term are a Youth Guarantee, Social Clauses in public procurement contracts, a Part-Time Jobs Opportunity Programme (as recommended by Social Justice Ireland) and a Youth Entrepreneurship Fund.

I have championed several of these initiatives since I was elected and a decision is due very soon on funding for a pilot Youth Guarantee scheme in Ballymun. Also, Minister Howlin recently confirmed his commitment to examine the use of social clauses in public contracts.

I will be working -  in my capacity of vice-chair of the Jobs Committee  - to see that these 35 recommendations in Creating Policies that Work are considered and implemented by Government to complement existing initiatives like Pathways to Work and the Action Plan on Jobs.

More Information and Read the Report

You can read the full report online here.

Please also feel free to contact me on john.lyons@oir.ie or 01 618 3280 if you want to discuss the area of unemployment of give any feedback on the report's recommendations.

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Lowering the Voting Age

The first Constitutional Convention Plenary Meeting of 2013, held on 26th - 27th January, voted in favour of lowering the voting age from 18 to 16 for all elections. These recommendations will be presented to the Government for decision along with the Convention's other decisions.

Caoimhe Troy, a TY student on work experience in my office this week (and interesting week to be in Leinster House!) talks about the pros and cons of reducing the voting age to include those under 18.

The recent proposal to reduce the voting age from 18 to 16 (or 17) has sparked a lot of speculation nationwide. There has been mixed reaction to this new idea, some positive, others negative. A recent Irish opinion poll showed that 30% of people were for the motion, 56% against, and 14% had no opinion. As a sixteen-year-old myself, I'm not certain with which side my loyalty lies. I can see and appreciate both sides of the argument. 

Taking the side in favour of the motion first:

                                                                      The Pros

• When young people turn 16, they are entitled to other rights, for example, they can drive and pay tax. Can't the right to vote go in the same basket as all of the other rights at seventeen?

• At school, all teenagers study C.S.P.E (Civic, Social and Political Education). Voting while still at school i.e. aged 16 or 17 would be a great way to put the values learned in C.S.P.E into practice. 

• Usually when teenagers reach 18, they have left secondary school, and have moved on to employment or college. As a result of this, they haven't an awful lot of knowledge about voting. If the voting age was reduced, young people would still be in school when they are eligible to vote. They could then be taught in school about voting, and be more informed about the subject when needs be. I think if this was the case, young people would be more likely to vote as they have more confidence knowing more about it.  

           However, some very good points are made by those against reducing the voting age:

                                                            The Cons

• Some of the people in my age bracket have a great interest in politics. However, a lot of them feel disconnected from it.  This is possibly because they feel they don't have a voice in the world of politics today. If the voting age is reduced, I feel that only a small percentage of                                                                sixteen or seventeen-year-olds would vote.

• Turning 18 is something of a milestone for young people. This is because in the eyes of society, you are recognised as an adult when you turn 18. Another reason is that you are entitled to new rights, such as consuming alcohol, and of course, voting. If the voting age was reduced, some people believe it would take away  from the sense of pride and new-found responsibility people feel when they turn 18.

• Finally, reducing the voting age might not be a wise idea because different people mature at different ages. At 16, a lot of teenagers haven't fully matured, and might be unable to make an accurate or sensible vote. The ability to vote, or the feeling of being obliged to vote brings a new stress to the lives of teenagers, who are that bit younger than 18, and not quite as mature.

As I've said before, I'm between two minds on the subject of reducing the voting age. However, I think I'm more inclined to veer towards the side against the proposal. This is because I strongly agree with the point about turning 18 being an important societal milestone.

Saying that, I really do believe that whatever decision is made will bring its own advantages to politics in Ireland. In particular, that we are debating the role of young people in politics in the first place and how we engage our youth with politics is a positive measure.


For more information on The Constitutional Convention and the upcoming issues it will consider, you can visit https://www.constitution.ie/

A Student's Response to the Action Plan on Bullying

My name is Caoimhe Troy and I am a Transition Year student. I am currently doing a week of Work Experience here in John's office in Leinster House. I am delighted to get the opportunity to voice my opinion on bullying and the new Action Plan on Bullying.

Any type of bullying can have major impacts on people my age, both physically and mentally, as well as emotionally. In my school, we describe bullying as being Hurtful, Aggressive, Repeated and Deliberate (HARD). In 2010,  24.3% of students aged 10-17 reported that they were bullied at least once at school in the past few months. That's almost one out of every four girls in my year, which is absolutely horrific, in my opinion.

Thankfully, with the help of Minister Quinn and Minister Fitzgerald, steps have recently been taken to launch an Action Plan on Bullying. This is in response to the hurtful behaviour occurring both inside and outside schools nationwide. The Action Plan recommends twelve actions, including:

• A media campaign targeted at young people focused on cyber bullying.
• New national anti-bullying procedures for all schools to be in place next year.
• Department of Education and Skills support for the Stand Up! Awareness Week Against Homophobic Bullying.

As a student myself, I welcome the approach promoted by the Action Plan, and I genuinely think it will be extremely effective.

In my opinion, Homophobic, Racist, and especially Cyber Bullying are becoming increasingly active forms of bullying. The Internet offers us a great connection to friends and family. However, over the past few years, the Internet can also be a very unsafe place for people my age not just in Ireland, but worldwide.

• In 2011, 17% of children reported being a victim of Cyber Bullying. 
• A recent survey showed that 30% of teachers had witnessed a racist incident in that past month.
• It also showed that four out of five teachers were aware of homophobic bullying in their school.

As a teenager myself, I have seen first hand the devastating effects of bullying. It can make teenagers doubt themselves, lose all confidence and feel worthless. In 2010,  1198 people under nineteen were treated in hospitals all over Ireland for self-harm. I find this appalling  I believe that nobody should be made feel so terrible about themselves that they would inflict pain on themselves.

As you can see, serious changes need to be made. Despite all of these negative figures, I believe from the bottom of my heart that the new Action Plan for Bullying will make our schools and communities a safer and happier place for people my age.

The Action Plan on Bullying can be viewed on the Department of Education's website here.