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jobs, reform, fairness

Reclaiming our Future Labour Youth’s Priorities for a Labour-led Government

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CONTENTS

1 Employment 3 TheMinimumWageCut 3 JobsFund 3 EmploymentOpportunitiesforGraduates

andApprentices 3

2 Education 4 ThirdLevelFees 4 EducationalOpportunitiesfor

theUnemployed 4 AModernEducationSystem 5 EarlySchoolLeavers 5 Civic,SocialandPoliticalEducation 5

3 Equality 6 CivilMarriage 6 UniversalHealthcare 6 MentalHealthServicesforYoungPeople 7 BreakingtheCycleofChildPoverty 7

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1. EMPLOYMENT

THE MINIMUM WAGE CUT

LabourYouthcondemnthecutintheminimumwageenactedbytheFiannaFáil-Greengovernment.

The2009incomelevyalreadyreducedtherealvalueoftheminimumwage.Only4%ofworkersarepaidtheminimumwage-thusthecuttingoftheminimumwagewillhavenorealimpactonourcompetitiveness.Neitherdoescuttingtheminimumwagecreatejobs.Thecuttingoftheminimumwagehasbeenasenselessactandanattackonthelowestpaidworkersinsociety.

LabourYouthendorsestheLabourParty’scommitmenttorestoringtheminimumwageto€8.65perhour.

JOBS FUND

LabourYouthishighlyconcernedaboutthelevelofunemployment,especiallyyouthunemployment,inIreland.Unemploymentstandsat13.4%,andlatestfiguresshowthatthereareover81,000peopleundertheageof25ontheLiveRegister.

Insteadofformulatinganeffectivestrategytocreatejobs,theFiannaFáil-GreengovernmenthopedthatthestrengthoftherecoveriesintheUnitedStatesandtheEuropeanUnionwouldpullIrelandintorecoveryandaphaseofjob-creation.Inthemeantime,theywerehappytoallowemigrationtosoarasasafetyvalve.50,000peoplewillemigratethisyear.

Irelandneedsleadersandnotbystanders.WiththeDepartmentofSocialProtectionnowaccountingfor38%

ofcurrentgovernmentspending,itisclearthatfixingtheunemploymentcrisiswouldgoalongwaytorestoringordertothestate’sfinances.

LabourYouthendorsestheLabourParty’scommitmenttoestablishinga€500millionjobsfund.Thekeytorecoveryisgettingourcountrybacktowork.

EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES FOR GRADUATES AND APPRENTICES

LabourYouthendorsestheLabourParty’sproposaltointroduceagraduateandapprenticeplacement(GAP)scheme.Suchaschemewouldbedesignedtobridgethegapwherebynewgraduatesandnewly-qualifiedapprenticesarefindingitdifficulttogetafirstjobduetoalackofexperience.TheGAPschemewouldenhancethejobopportunitiesforthesepeople.

Participatinginternswouldbepaidatthesingleperson’srateofJobseeker’sAllowanceforthedurationoftheplacement,plusa‘CostofWork’allowance.

Placementsunderthisschemewouldlastsixmonthsandemployerswouldbeobligedtoofferworkthatwouldenhanceagraduateorapprentice’sprofessionalexperience.

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THIRD LEVEL FEES

LabourYouthbelievethatIreland’sfutureprosperityisdependentonhowmuchandhowwellweinvestineducation.LabourYouthbelievethateducationisthegreatenabler,benefitingnotjustindividuals,butoureconomyandoursociety.

TheFiannaFáil-GreengovernmentreplacedtheStudentServicesChargewithathird-levelstudentcontributionfeeof€2,000.WhentheLabourPartyabolishedtuitionfeesin1996,aStudentServicesChargeof€190wasintroduced.Thegovernment’sintentiontoscraptheSSCandreplaceitwitha“contributionfee”isthereintroductionofthird-levelfees.

ThereintroductionofthirdlevelfeesbytheFiannaFáil-Greengovernmenthasabsolutelynothingtodowithincreasinginvestmentinthirdleveleducation,improvingaccesstothirdleveleducation,orprovidingbettereducationatfirstandsecondlevel.FeeshavebeenreintroducedpurelytobalanceoutthecutsthattheFiannaFáil-Greengovernmenthavemadetothirdleveleducation.

WhenNiamhBhreathnachabolishedfeesforthirdleveleducation,partofherreasoningwasthatalleducationshouldbefreeandaccessibleandprovideeverycitizenwiththeopportunitytorealisetheirfullpotential.

Wecannotaffordtoincreasethirdlevelfeesanymore.

Educationisthesinglemostimportantinvestmentanycommunitycanmakeinitsownfuture.Itshouldnotbebegrudged.Itenhancescompetitivenessandstrengthenstheeconomy.

LabourYouthfullyendorsestheLabourParty’slongstandingoppositiontochargingthirdlevelstudentstuitionfees.

EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE UNEMPLOYED

Atpresent,peoplehavetobeonthedoleforninemonthsbeforequalifyingfortheBacktoEducationallowance.LabourYouthbelievesthatthegovernmentshouldbemakingiteasierforindividualstoimprovetheiremploymentopportunities.

Therefore,LabourYouthendorsestheLabourParty’sproposaltoreducethequalifyingperiodfortheBacktoEducationallowancetothreemonths.

2. EDUCATION

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LabourYouthbelievethatthereshouldbeatransferofCatholicpatronageofschoolstootherpatronbodiesunderthesupervisionoftheDepartmentofEducationandSkills.LabourYouthagreewithArchbishopDiarmuidMartinthattheCatholicChurchbeingthepatronof92%ofourprimaryschoolsisan“historicalhangover”.

LabourYouthbelievesthatitisunacceptableforsuchahighpercentageofprimaryschoolstohaveareligiousethos,asthisdeniesmanyparentstherighttoeducatetheirchildreninaccordancewiththeirpreferredethos.

Furthermore,LabourYouthbelievethatitisequallyunacceptablethatnon-denominationalandmulti-denominationaleducationalinstitutionsarenotavailabletosecond-levelstudentsandtheirparents.

EARLY SCHOOL LEAVERS

9,000studentsayearleavesecondaryschoolbeforecompletingaLeavingCertificate.OverallchildliteracyratesinIrelandhavenotimprovedsince1980.Oneintenprimaryschoolchildren-50,000pupils-haveseriousliteracydifficulties.

Therefore,LabourYouthbelievethatthereneedstobearenewedfocusonliteracyandnumeracyinschools,particularlyindisadvantagedareas.

LabourYouthendorsestheLabourParty’scommitmenttoimplementinganationalstrategyplantoimproveoverallyouthliteracylevels,withagreednationaloutcomesandspecifictargetsfordisadvantagedchildrenandteenagers.

CIVIC, SOCIAL AND POLITICAL EDUCATION

LabourYouthsupportmakingCivil,SocialandPoliticalEducation(CSPE)anoptionalsubjectfortheLeavingCertificate.LabourYouthbelievesthatitisvitalthatyoungpeopleshouldbeabletolearnaboutpolitics;ethics;andtherelationshipbetweeneconomics,socialissuesandthepoliticalsystemintheLeavingCertificatecycle.

Therefore,LabourYouthcallforCSPEtobeintroducedasanoptionalsubjectfortheLeavingCertificate.

ACCESS TO FURTHER EDUCATION

FineGaelwantsgraduatestopay€12,000-€17,000eachinanewtax.Thistax,whichwillbeimposedassoonasastudentgraduatesandstartsearningabasicsalary,willpenalisestudentsforgettingintotheworkforce.Itwillalsoincentiviserecentgraduatestoemigratetoavoidthetaxandencouragethemtostayawaybecausethegraduatetaxwouldkickinassoonastheytrytoreturnhome.The Labour Party is steadfastly opposed to any graduate tax or increase in tuition fees.

Labour believes that the €500 increase in the Student Services Charge to €2000 is a step too far for students and their families. We will reverse this increase.

Labour will reverse the €200 charge for PLC courses.Thisisachargeoncoursesthatareapathwaytofurthereducationforyoungpeople,whomightnototherwisecontinuetheirstudies.

Administration of student grants will be transferred to the Department of Social Protection. Thiswillreducethebureaucracyassociatedwithstudentsupport.Wewillalsoreformthemeanstestforthestudentgranttoensurethatitisequitableandtargetedatthosemostinneedofassistance.

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3. EQUALITY

CIVIL MARRIAGE

LabourYouthwelcomestheintroductionofcivilpartnershipsinIrelandinsofarastheirintroductionprovidesforlegalrecognitioninstatuteforgaycouples.Howevercivilpartnershipsdonotprovidegaycoupleswithequalrightstostraightcouples.Gaycouplesarebeingtreatedassecondclasscitizens.Thismustbecorrected.

LabourYouthconsiderittobeamatterofprioritythatareferendumtoamendtheconstitutionbecalledthatwouldproposegivinggaycouplesequalrecognitionandrightsasitgivestostraightcouples.

UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE

LabourYouthbelievethathealthcareshouldbeprovidedasahumanrightandthereforeendorsestheconceptofuniversalhealthcare.Healthcareshouldbeequallyavailabletoeveryoneinoursocietyonthebasisofmedicalneed,notincome.

LabourYouthendorsestheLabourParty’scommitmenttointroducinguniversalhealthcare.Thiswillreformthewayinwhichhealthcareisdeliveredsothattherewillbeaone-tieruniversalservicethatdeliversprimarycarefreetoallandprioritiseshospitaltreatmentonthebasisofmedicalneed,notthemoneyinyourpocket.

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LabourYouthsupportanewapproachtoprovidingmentalhealthservicesforyoungpeople.

LabourYouthendorsetheLabourParty’scommitmenttoworkwithhealthprovidersandcharitableorganisationstoexplorehowanationwideearlyintervention‘walk-in’serviceforyoungpeopleexperiencingmentalhealthdifficulties,basedonthe‘Jigsaw’serviceoperatinginGalway,canbedevelopedfromwithinexistingresources.

BREAKING THE CYCLE OF CHILD POVERTY

ChildpovertyinIrelandhasremainedstubbornlyhigh,eventhroughtheboomyears.Thisshowsthatsimplyaddingmoremoneyisnotenoughtobreakthecycleofchildpovertywhereitismostdeeplyentrenched.

LabourYouthsupportaradicalnewarea-basedapproachtotacklingchildpoverty,basedontheYoungBallymunprojectinDublin,whichinvolvesalloftheexistingstateservices,suchaspublichealthnurses,schools,childcareprofessionals,andsocialworkerscoordinatingtheirefforts,withexpertIrishandinternationalsupport,totackleeveryaspectofchildpovertywithinIreland’smostdisadvantagedcommunities.

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