The Department of Social Protection and the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment are the main authority responsible for youth employment at a national level. The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment has responsibility for enterprise and youth enterprise policy, at local level supported by the Local Enterprise Offices (LEO).

Economic Security and Opportunity is one of the five national outcome areas for young people in Young Ireland: National Policy Framework for Children and Young People 2023-2028 (Department of Children and Youth Affairs).

The Employment and Youth Engagement Charter is a government initiative, published in May 2024, to help those who are at risk of not easily moving into employment. The charter focuses on jobseekers under 30 years of age. It provides a framework for the government to collaborate with employers to support and inspire young jobseekers and other priority groups to build their knowledge, skills and experience to enhance their employability. 

The onset of Covid-19 and the associating public health measures introduced to curb the spread of the virus have resulted in a sharp rise in youth unemployment with a significant proportion of young people in receipt of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP).

Several youth employment measures were established related to commitments in the Youth Guarantee (2013) and the Reinforced Youth Guarantee (2020).

 These include:

• JobsPlus for Youth
• Tús
• Employment and Youth Activation Charter
• Work Placement Experience Programme (WPEP) which replaced the Youth Employment Support Scheme (YESS) in 2021. 

Ireland has a developed career guidance support system across the education and training system including post-primary education, higher education and further education and training.

Guidance counselling in Ireland is practiced in a holistic and integrative way, and encompasses the areas of

• social/personal counselling
• vocational guidance counselling
• educational guidance counselling.