There are concerns over the number of young people who are unemployed for over six months in Kilkenny and Carlow.
The National Youth Council says there are far too many.
284 young people, under 26, in Kilkenny are unemployed for over 6 months, while there are 397 in the same category in Carlow.
That’s according to new figures from the Department of Social Protection with the figures rising to over 11,000 young people nationally.
The National Youth Council wants the government to implement an action plan under the EU Youth Guarantee programme which they say can halve the number of long term youth unemployment by 2018.
They’re also recommending an additional investment of €47.4 million in next year’s budget which they say would only have a net cost of €15 million through savings in social welfare.