Sir, – We are calling on Senators to oppose Section 9 (Jobseeker’s allowance – amendments) of the Social Welfare Bill 2013.
The reduction in social welfare payments for under-26s is inequitable and not an incentive to work. At the height of the boom, Ireland had one of the highest proportions in the EU of young people working. . Irish young people want to work. Getting a job is difficult, with 32 unemployed people for every job vacancy advertised in Ireland.
€100 per week is not enough to survive on. The Vincentian Partnership recently estimated the minimum cost of a single adult living as part of a household will be €184 in 2014. The recent OECD report Getting Youth on the Job Track found that 40 per cent of young people aged 16-24 in Ireland in 2011 were at risk of poverty, which is the highest in the EU. Budget 2014 cuts will impose further hardship on young people and force many to emigrate.
If the Government is looking to save an additional €32 million, the banking levy of €150 million could be increased to €200 million, this would allow banks to return to profitability while at the same time being significantly less than the eligible liabilities guarantee scheme (ELG) where banks including AIB, Bank of Ireland and Permanent TSB cumulatively paid €1 billion a year to the exchequer in exchange for a State-backed unlimited guarantee on deposits. This would allow for social welfare rates to remain the same, but also allow for the Government to invest more in the youth guarantee scheme that currently stands at only €14 million.
We urge Seanad Eireann to stand up for young people by opposing and voting no to this Bill. – Yours, etc,
JOE O'CONNOR, President, Union of Students in Ireland; RONAN BURTENSHAW, We're Not Leaving; CLARA FISCHER, Equality Budgeting Campaign; DAN
O' NEILL, Young Workers Network; CIARAN GARRETT, Chair of Labour Youth; IAN POWER, Executive Director,
SpunOut.ie; MARY
CUNNINGHAM, Director, National Youth Council of Ireland & PATRICK BURKE, CEO, Youth Work Ireland,
C/o SpunOut.ie,
Fleet Street,
Temple Bar,
Dublin 2.