Ann McKechin
Main Page: Ann McKechin (Labour - Glasgow North)Department Debates - View all Ann McKechin's debates with the Northern Ireland Office
(12 years ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Ann McKechin (Glasgow North) (Lab)
1. What her policy is on tackling youth unemployment in Northern Ireland.
The Minister of State, Northern Ireland Office (Mike Penning)
Specific measures to tackle youth unemployment in Northern Ireland are the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Executive. The Government’s efforts to reduce the largest structural deficit in our peacetime history and set the country back on the path of sustainable economic recovery will attract growth and help young people throughout the United Kingdom.
Ann McKechin
Given that almost one in five young people in Northern Ireland are currently unemployed, is it not time for the Minister to consider a national insurance break for small employers, which are predominant in the private economy in Northern Ireland, to allow them to take on young people and get them back to work?
Mike Penning
There will be a statement, believe it or not, later in the day in which the Chancellor sets out our economic measures—the autumn statement. I know that the hon. Lady speaks in good faith and cares about this problem, but it is not something that suddenly happened when the coalition Government came into power, or when the Northern Ireland Executive came into power; youth unemployment started to rise quite quickly in 2004 when her Government were in power, and that was in a time of boom before it went bust under the last Administration.