Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The scheme will be formally launched next Monday in Waterford. The key points are that if an employer takes on a person who has been unemployed for more than one year, he or she receives a cash payment of €7,500 over a two year period on a monthly basis; in the case of a person on the live register who has been unemployed for two years or more, the employer will receive a cash payment of €10,000 over a two year period, paid monthly. That is a significant incentive, particularly for jobs at starter level or for those wishing to return to work where the initial earnings might not be that significantly high. The scheme is a big assistance and I hope employers will see it as such.