"The fact that up to €100,000 ear marked for tackling youth unemployment is to be returned unspent to the EU is just not acceptable and clearly shows that once again we have dropped the ball when it comes to spending EU monies" stated Marian Harkin MEP following revelations that only two thirds of the €302,000 earmarked for youth unemployment was spent.

"What really annoys me is that I asked the Minister to put two pilot projects in place, one for Dublin and one for Donegal. In the context of unacceptably high unemployment figures in Donegal[1], particularly youth unemployment and the high level of emigration from the county there was an urgent need to set up a pilot programme on youth unemployment to help ease the situation.

"Another reason for suggesting Donegal is that it is a rural county and lessons learned from both urban and rural settings would have been very valuable in rolling out the Youth Guarantee programme nationwide.

"I am disappointed and angry that the €100,000 being returned was not earmarked for Donegal and is instead being returned to the EU. Despite our long experience of EU membership this is another example where money is being returned unspent. This follows on from significant amounts of monies[2] earmarked for the European Globalisation Fund also being returned unspent" Harkin concluded.
 
[1] *Census 2011 figures show Donegal had the second highest level of youth unemployment at 49%
 
[2] 6 applications for EGF, 3 for the construction industry, 1 each from Dell, Waterford Crystal and SR Technics, less than two thirds of monies spent