The ardfheis called for the setting up of a governing body to implement statutory pay and conditions for young people in the workforce. Julie Pakenham, of Cavan Ógra, questioned how many young people were receiving the national minimum wage.
"How many young people know they are entitled to the wage? Young people today are unaware of their rights and are being taken advantage of in the workplace," she said.
Nine years after the introduction of legislation to protect young people in the workplace more needed to be done.
The call for the governing body was made during a debate on the economy and communications. Pat Traynor, Monaghan, called for an end to the roaming charges on mobile phones which, he said, represented a major problem in the Border area. "Young people use the 'pay as you go' phone, and they, in particular, are being ripped off".
The party's Louth TD Arthur Morgan said Sinn Féin was committed to improving Ireland's competitiveness through progressive social and economic policies.
"Government policies on social spending in the areas of housing, transport infrastructure and childcare in particular are not only bad for the people of this State, they are also bad for the economy".
Mr Morgan said the Nordic countries, which had high levels of social protections and proper provision of housing and childcare, delivered through higher levels of social spending and achieved higher rankings than the Republic in global competitiveness.
He accused the Government of standing over the development of a "bubble" overvaluation in the housing market which was endangering the economy. The Government, he said, had failed to tackle the infrastructure deficit affecting much of the State and had implemented unsustainable planning policies, standing idly by as the State's competitiveness was thrown away.
Mr Morgan said Sinn Féin would promote an economy that served society.
"We will invest in infrastructure, including rail and road and balanced regional development. We will invest in the development of quality affordable accessible childcare and free pre-school for all three-year-olds.
"We will tackle house prices. We will protect essential services, which are vital to the State's competitiveness, such as the State airline and An Post".
Mr Morgan reiterated the Sinn Féin view that competition policy must be driven by a criterion of protecting the public good, that competition must be regulated, that universal service obligations must be maintained and strengthened, that workers' rights must be protected and guaranteed, and that the competition authorities must make tackling cartels a priority.
Self-regulation by the professions, which had long been shown to be anti-competitive, would also be tackled.
"The failure of successive Governments to tackle what are, effectively closed shops in many of the professions, illustrates the selectivity of the establishment when it comes to the issue of competition," he said.
