Fianna Fáil’s candidate in the European Elections, Cllr Fitzpatrick said “In 2013 the Government announced the introduction of the Youth Guarantee Scheme with great fanfare. €200 million was to be invested in the scheme with one third of that being pledged by the Government to roll out The Youth Guarantee Scheme on a nationwide basis. Under the guarantee, no unemployed young person would be allowed to go longer than four months without a job offer or training”.

Cllr Fitzpatrick said “What has been delivered since is Government investment of €14 million and one scheme in Ballymun. No investment beyond this initial contribution has been committed by the Government, no further schemes have been introduced and many young people are out of work and training for over four months”.

Cllr Fitzpatrick commented “Today over 20,000 young people in the Dublin region are neither in employment, education or training.  Not only are these young people left in an effective limbo, they’ve also seen their dole payments slashed from €190 to €100 euro a week. There are not nearly enough training and education places to cater for the number of people out of work.

Cllr Fitzpatrick concluded “I am calling on the Government to fulfill its pledge to provide guaranteed access to a job, further education or training for jobless young people and to publish clear timelines as to when this can be expected”.