The National Youth Council of Ireland (NYCI) met with the Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs today on the fiscal compact. NYCI Assistant Director, James Doorley raised a number of issues about the implications of the Treaty, in particular for young people and those who work with them, including:
- Will the Treaty require the Government to impose more and deeper cuts than are economically or socially wise and just?
- There is a need for greater EU action on social vision and agenda, not just on economic and fiscal matters.
- We may need to sign up to the Treaty in the short-term, but what are the long-term implications for our economy and society?
- What are the implications of enshrining this Treaty into our constitution, especially if in the medium to long term the treaty is by-passed or not implemented?
Mr Doorley said:
“One of the reasons why we are in this mess in the first place is because of short-term decisions taken to get us past the next year or next problem. The Irish people deserve to know, and in particular the current generation of young people need to know, the longer term advantages and disadvantages of signing up to the Treaty.”
“It would be a crushing blow if we were signing up to a treaty that required long term austerity and cuts which prolonged our greatest social ills of unemployment and emigration. Given the high levels of youth unemployment we need a dedicated youth employment plan, backed with the resources to make it work.”
“Would the fiscal compact potentially restrict the Government from borrowing money to invest in efforts to retrain jobseekers even if there was upswing in the economy and a significant number of vacancies became available as happened in the mid 1990s?”
“Against this backdrop, it is vital that the full implications of the treaty are spelled out to the Irish people, in the context of a larger vision for the future of the EU as a whole,” concluded Mr Doorley.
ENDS
For further information, please contact Daniel Meister, Communications Officer at NYCI on 087 781 4903 or 01 425 5955 or email communications@nyci.ie
Notes to Editors:
National Youth Council of Ireland
The National Youth Council of Ireland is a membership-led umbrella organisation that represents and supports the interests of voluntary youth organisations and uses its collective experience to act on issues that impact on young people.
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Presentation to Joint Committee on European Affairs
