Ms Bríd O'Brien:

I am speaking on behalf of the Irish National Organisation of the Unemployed, INOU. The organisation has more than 210 affiliated organisations, which work on issues ranging from unemployment and community development to disability, Traveller and other issues, and over 2,000 individual members. They are people who are either unemployed, some in receipt of a payment and others not, or are on a variety of working age payments. The organisation works on providing training and welfare rights information services, analysis of Government policies and related advocacy work, and works with a range of other organisations on issues of common concern.

We are conscious that all the headline statistics are moving in the right direction. There is an increase in employment and a decrease in unemployment. However, we are keenly aware, from feedback from individual members and affiliated organisations and from our other work, that many people are not experiencing this improvement. Looking at the breakdown between full-time and part-time employment now and the pre-crisis period equivalent, when employment was at its highest level, it is striking to see that 82% of people were in full-time employment before the crisis while the current figure is 77%. The feedback we get from affiliates and individual members indicates that in their area or line of work, much of the work on offer or available to them is often part-time or piecemeal. That is an issue of concern. Given the debate and uncertainty around Brexit, people feel this could be exacerbated in the coming period.

One statistic one always wishes to bring to people's attention is the potential additional labour force. It captures the number of people who have not answered in the affirmative to the two questions one must answer in the affirmative to be classified as unemployed. One question is whether the person has been actively seeking work in the past four weeks and the second is whether the person is available to take up work in the next two weeks. If one has not been looking for work because one has lost heart, one will answer "No" to the first question. If there are child care, transport or other logistical issues to be resolved, one might not be able to take up work within a two-week timeframe so one might answer "No" to the second. A person might answer "No" to both questions. The potential additional labour force stands at approximately 40,000 people. It is a figure to bear in mind, because it often denotes people who are more distant from the labour market or have other challenges that must be addressed. Among the challenges, as the Oireachtas is keenly aware, are issues with child care and transport. They are considerable issues in rural areas but they are also issues in urban areas of disadvantage.

The striking aspect of the debate about Brexit and the reality of Ireland's trading position is the fact that Britain is still such a huge trading partner for Ireland. Even though the percentage is down, the income generated and the value of the exports still amount to considerable sums of money. The challenge facing Ireland is how to preserve that or, if that is not achievable depending on the nature of the Brexit, how to substitute for it. How do we plan for that and what must we do to ensure that happens? One of the striking features of some of the reports Enterprise Ireland has produced is that it is usually the firms that were more open to being innovative and co-operative that often had the better results and better employment results. We note that because many of the changes that have taken place in employment services, education and training services and in activation supports and policy do not lend themselves to innovation or co-operation across a range of providers. Being innovative and collaborative in the approach to public policy making and the roll-out of services will be critical to trying to address the challenges we currently face and are likely to face as Brexit is rolled out, if there is to be a positive result.

Most of our concerns are around the impacts on people who are unemployed or people who could be facing unemployment. For a long period of time this State has relied on emigration as a safety valve for unemployment. Even though Irish people travel to all parts of the planet, the main outlet for our people is often the country next door. That will be a consideration, depending on the nature of the Brexit we face. From our perspective, we would like to have a very good analysis of enterprises and jobs, the assessment of those that will survive, manage or thrive and, for those that will not, how to plan for their employees either creating their own jobs in a different enterprise or being able to seek employment elsewhere. How do we map out those journeys for all those people who could number many thousands? One exercise we must undertake as a nation is to examine how to address that. In the meantime, we must not lose sight of those who remain unemployed. Among the feedback we receive is feedback from people who are older and unemployed. They find that although many of them might have good skills and experience, getting back into work once one is beyond a certain age is very difficult. As one individual said to us, being unemployed, over 50 and living in rural Ireland is no joke. Many people living in urban disadvantaged areas would echo that sentiment.

As we plan for the potential negative impact of Brexit, and perhaps for the opportunities it will throw up, and try to ensure that those who are unemployed or become unemployed are not left behind as these developments take place, we must build services that have the capacity to ensure that we do not lose sight of the issues and inequalities currently in our labour market for those who might be facing structural unemployment, long-term unemployment or who come from families and communities where it has been a while since anybody has been in work. How to address that is among the challenges that face us. Also, when rolling out plans such as the Action Plan for Education and the Action Plan for Jobs, how do we ensure that those policies are truly equitable and inclusive and that we plan in a way that does not leave others behind? It should be borne in mind that even at the height of the Celtic tiger economy many people were left behind, with many people in jobless households. They were in particular communities and came from particular backgrounds. We must ensure that does not happen again.

We believe it is important that there is good planning and good cross-agency and cross-departmental co-operation and interaction. We must get a good handle on it and plan it out well, and ensure that the supports and services for unemployed people are meaningful, well informed, good and proactive whereby people can feel that they can make an informed choice and have a secure future in Ireland. One of our concerns about the recent budget is that in many respects no additional resources were put into some of the educational and other supports unemployed people access. Depending on the nature of the Brexit that takes place, ensuring that there are alternative education and training supports and that they have the capacity to engage with those who are unemployed or are likely to become unemployed will be critical.