Youth Unemployment
Dail Éireann — 2026-02-19
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Alan Dillon (FG), Mayo

I agree with some of the Deputy's suggestions in regard to continued investment in key actions under Pathways to Work. I know that needs to provide enhanced supports for young people and jobseekers. The establishment of the employment and youth engagement charter is important to bring employers and young people together to tackle the barriers in regard to getting into the workforce.
As I said earlier, we need to continue to strengthen the partnership between our further education and private employment sectors and consider how the Government can support that.
We need to break the cycle whereby, if there is no experience, people are not entitled to a job, or if there is no job, there can be no experience. This is about aligning policy with education reform. We are making an important partnership by expanding flexibility around blended forms of learning and, as I said earlier, the apprenticeship model. We will continue to do that.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-02-19/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:40+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-02-19