EU Affairs Committee to discuss youth guarantee

The EU affairs committee will meet this afternoon to discuss the European Youth Guarantee.

The committee will be addressed by James Doorley of the National Youth Council; James Higgins of the European Youth Forum and Dermot Stokes, formerly of Youthreach.

A meeting of EU social affairs and employment ministers chaired by Minister for Social Affairs, Joan Burton in Dublin last month reached agreement on a Youth Guarantee scheme, which, if adopted by a European Council of EU Heads of Government, will require each member state to ensure under-25s are offered employment, education or training within four months of becoming unemployed.

Once adopted, member states will be encouraged to implement the recommendation as soon as possible from 2014 onwards. Funding will come largely from countries' own budgetary resources, supplemented by EU funding including the European Social Fund and Youth Employment Initiative which will put €6 billion towards youth employment measures across member states between 2014 and 2020.

“There is no more urgent issue facing Ireland and Europe than that of unemployment, and youth unemployment in particular,” chairman of the committee Dominic Hannigan said.

“The initiative has the potential to curb the scourge of youth unemployment Europe-wide. We look forward to hearing three distinct perspectives on what measures are required to ensure the guarantee is appropriately implemented across member states.”

The meeting is due to begin at 2pm but there may be a delay before the public session begins as the committee meets in private before the stream goes live.