Burke’s ‘youth tax credit’ to keep people in Ireland

A move aimed at helping encourage young people to stay and work in this country has been proposed this week by the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Peter Burke.

“This is absolutely not a silver bullet, but it’s a start,” said Minister Burke, as he mooted the idea of a new ‘Youth Tax Credit’ for U25s.

“I think we need to be doing more in order to keep and incentivise our graduates who are trained in Ireland to begin their career in Ireland,” Minister Burke told the Westmeath Examiner this week.

He said that to provide the €750 per head adjustment in tax credits would cost the state around €100m.

“I think when young people are starting out in life, measures like the rent tax credit, together with a youth tax credit, both of which could be increased over time, would be a good idea to incentivise retention of our younger population.”

The issue of young people emigrating is one that is being raised often with Minister Burke, but even more so since he went public in a national newspaper with his proposal: “A lot of emails I got subsequent to the article were from young parents hoping that they could keep their children at home in Ireland, and saying that the system as a whole needs to do more to incentivise that retention.

“I’m absolutely clear this is not in and of itself a solution, but I think the strongest code we have is our tax code as a policy tool. As a policy tool it’s our strongest piece of armoury, and my view is that we should be using it more to retain our younger workers. And this is a start.”

The other big issue is housing, but Minister Burke says if the country continues to improve housing provision at the rate at which it is currently happening, he believes that will resolve that crisis, which is particularly difficult for young people.

“So there’s 54,000 homes commenced between April last year and this year. That’s at a record level. We’re due to complete about 36,000 homes this year, which is more than in well over a decade and if you drive around any town in Ireland, you can see estates of more than two, three hundred houses in construction. Builders are on site.

“You don’t have to listen to promises: they are on their way, they are being delivered, and they will have a positive impact on the market when they come.”

The figures don’t include modular homes being provided for refugees or asylum seekers.

At the same time, he says, there are new schools being delivered, as has happened in Mullingar, and existing schools being extended.

“We have so much public infrastructure being delivered right across the country – including broadband that we are all beneficiaries of – and when you couple that with housing, the state is at its maximum output. But we are really prioritising housing.”