Mr. John Farrell:

On behalf of the Irish National Organisation of the Unemployed, INOU, I thank the committee for this invitation. I very much welcome the opportunity to make a presentation on the social dimension of the economic and monetary union, EMU. As Ireland prepares for the troika to leave, it is increasingly clear that austerity is not leaving with them. INOU is keenly aware that addressing the unemployment crisis in a smart, sustainable and inclusive manner will not be feasible unless alternative policies are developed and pursued. This is a challenge not only at national level but also at European level. The emphasis on strengthening the EMU's economic governance and multilateral surveillance has created a limited policy context in which social issues can be appropriately addressed. The focus on tight fiscal controls is also throwing up economic challenges, for example the implications of dangerously low levels of investment in Ireland.

At an individual level, economic and social issues are intertwined. A critical question facing unemployed people is whether they have a realistic prospect of finding sustainable employment. Unemployed people face the prospect of sanctions if they fail to take up the activation options presented to them. The current scale of job creation is insufficient to give many of those who are now unemployed any meaningful options. This is worsened by the fact that many unemployed people do not hear about employment options as many jobs are not advertised. When jobs are advertised some employers can be reluctant to recruit people who are long-term unemployed. These issues are not only personal but local, national and European, and addressing them at all these levels is critical. How the perceptions of unemployed people and jobless households are articulated, the language used in public discourse, the policies devised and how they are implemented on the ground all influence potential outcomes and, in particular, whether they are equitable and inclusive.

As a troika country Ireland was not subject to the full Europe 2020 process. As the troika leaves, this process and its targets will become more pertinent. Even with the revised and less ambitious poverty targets, introduced in light of the impact of austerity, Ireland is moving in the wrong direction. According to the Survey on Income and Living Conditions 2011 consistent poverty had increased to 6.9% and for unemployed people this figure is considerably higher at 16.5%. It is important that these targets are not just aspirational but are given real effect and are pursued with the urgency afforded to the economic and fiscal targets. One potential way to give effect at a national level is to place inequality-proofing and poverty-proofing on a legislative basis.

On the educational target, Ireland is moving in the right direction, but, as Ireland's structural unemployment problem indicates, we have a long way to go before addressing the challenges facing disadvantaged young people distant from the labour market. An equally difficult challenge is the one facing older long-term unemployed people whose skill set does not match up with current or emerging job opportunities. Welcome and essential as the youth guarantee is, in Ireland 87% of people who are long-term unemployed are aged over 25 and specific measures are required to address the issues facing older unemployed people, including discrimination.

While welcoming the proposed increased focus on social issues within the economic and fiscal monitoring procedures in place in Europe, INOU is conscious of the challenge facing Europe. For example, when the tight control envisaged under the macroeconomic imbalances procedure, MIP, are likely to prevent appropriate levels of social and economic investment to really tackle structural unemployment and those at risk of poverty and social exclusion. In seeking to strengthen policy co-ordination will an economic focus invariably dominate a social one or will the learning drawn from the key employment and social indicators scoreboard be used to address the underlying structural issues which give rise to long-term unemployment, poverty and social exclusion?

Without a strong focus on equality and policy and system design that strives to meet the needs of people living and working in Europe, there is a real danger that activation measures will fail unemployed people and others distant from the labour market. It is also striking that Europe-wide progress on social policy will be assessed through, for example, the exchange of best practice through the open method of co-ordination, OMC, which is very different from the more enforceable and potentially draconian measures envisaged on the economic and fiscal policy side.

A strong focus on active inclusion will be integral to developing a smart, sustainable and inclusive Europe; developing and deepening social cohesion within and across Europe; and realising the full potential of the social investment package, SIP. Europe has defined active inclusion as: "enabling every citizen, notably the most disadvantaged, to fully participate in society, including having a job." There are three interlocking aspects to active inclusion: adequate income supports; inclusive labour markets; and access to quality services. Access to adequate income supports and quality services are critical to addressing poverty and social exclusion. They are also critical in supporting people who become unemployed to manage their unemployment and access an appropriate response.

INOU is very concerned that the increasing focus on conditionality within and across Europe is undermining social protection supports and that elements within SIP that stress prevention rather than cure by reducing the need for benefits will leave an increasing number of people managing the personally unsustainable and impoverishing cycle of welfare and low paid precarious work. Such a development will undermine solidarity at all levels of European society. It also raises serious issues for labour market mobility and begs the question whether Europe is here for its people and the development of European society, or sees its people as an input into its economic development.

Welcome as financial instruments such as the European Social Fund are, their potential is limited by co-financing matching requirements at a time of tighter EU fiscal rules. The scale of the interventions required to address social issues, including structural issues such as long-term unemployment, requires increased national investment. What appears more likely is a redesign of existing measures to meet particular needs with limited resources.

It is critically important that any developments across Europe to strengthen the social dimension of the EU's focus and organisation explicitly include people who are living with and seeking to address unemployment and other forms of inequality and social exclusion. The vision for growth within Europe 2020 is for growth that is smart, sustainable and inclusive. To develop and implement policies that underpin this vision, it is not only critical but smart to include the people who are often the objectives of policy developments. The active participation of people living and working in Europe is critical to improving social cohesion and the creation of a Europe that is seen as meaningful to the lives of its inhabitants and citizens.

Community and voluntary sector organisations, CVSOs and NGOs as social partners have an important role to play in social dialogue and in the articulation and development of inclusive policies and their implementation. CVSOs and NGOs, like the traditional social partners, contribute to the roll-out, review and development of improved policy responses and good practice. A key element of good practice is engaging with people who are unemployed and socially or economically excluded and drawing on their lived experience to develop better and more appropriate responses. An integral part of such work is the provision of good quality information that facilitates people to make informed choices, and choice must be at the heart of activation and other policies.

The communiqué notes: "A well-functioning monetary union requires flexible markets and appropriate institutions to address the social situation and provide adequate national safety nets." It also requires that social policy be integral to European policy in the way economic and fiscal policy is. It needs to strive to have at the heart of its policy development a strong and demonstrable commitment to equality and inclusion.