Ireland Urged to Toughen Fight to Help Jobless Youth

With up to 11.9% of its 15-19-year-olds neither employed, in training or in education, Ireland must do more to help its young, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Developmenthas said.

In its Economic Survey of Ireland and in a report called Local Job Creation: How employment and training agencies can help Ireland, the OECD suggests a number of many hardhitting solutions to tackle the nation's unemployment crisis.

OECD secretary general Angel Gurria and Ireland's foreign affairs minister Eamon Gilmore presented the findings of the report in Dublin.

"What's needed is a strategic agenda for more inclusive growth that promotes job creation and social equity by harnessing the power of entrepreneurship and innovation," said Gurria.

The country that was brought to its knees in the 2008 financial crash because of its open economy, housing boom and exposed banking sector has 28.6% young people unemployed. Some 13% of its total workforce is unemployed and more than 60% have been out of work for more than 12 months.

Tackling the problems of long-term job-seekers is a particular problem, according to the OECD, because they become isolated, underskilled and bitter.

Policy Recommendations

With 50% of total jobs lost in the construction sector, it was vital to reskill people, argued the report.

The OECD said that Ireland was moving to a knowledge-based services economy with less reliance on construction and consumption.

Among its proposals were a greater focus on young people in policy planning and reflecting that in a national strategy.

Secondly, programmes and policies should be aligned to help those in need at a local level.

The OECD said that while Ireland was attractive for multinationals, it could do more to encourage home-grown businesses by increasing lending to SMEs.

Thirdly there should be an emphasis on creating quality jobs with the training to match.