The youth unemployment rate stands at 8.8% in Ireland, indicating the challenge for young people in securing employment (CSO, 2024). For young people not in employment, education or training, they face a range of barriers when seeking access to the labour market.

In 2024, Deloitte Ireland, Rethink Ireland and the Department of Rural and Community Development collaborated to create the €500,000 one year People’s Impact Fund. This supports projects working to promote equity of opportunity and access to employment, by developing the employability skills of young adults and/or facilitating their employment.

Adrienne Daly, our Social Impact Lead, explains “We reached out to Rethink Ireland, who we knew to be leaders in the space of supporting social innovations across Ireland.  We had a clear vision of what we wanted to achieve through the fund which was to create access to skills, education and employment for underserved communities which aligned to our Social Impact ambition at Deloitte.”

“What set Rethink Ireland apart for us is that our investment included not just monetary support but also access to professional advice for awardees so they can scale their impact sustainably. Rethink Ireland also helped us narrow our focus and suggested that we look at projects that equip young people, from ages fifteen to thirty, with the skills they need to seek employment with confidence.”