Dr. Peter Rigney:

Ba mhaith liom buíochas a ghabháil leis an gcoiste as ucht cuireadh a thabhairt dúinn.

Our presentation will focus on several issues, the main one being activation into what. It has been taken as true that progression into a job is a sure way of improving one’s economic and social status.

If that is to continue to be the case, the State must intervene in the labour market to ensure that work pays in all cases.

The precise number of employees on precarious contracts in Ireland is unknown. While the precise numbers of employers offering precarious contracts here is not available, some estimates can be gleaned from statistics compiled by the CSO. Employees on precarious contracts are likely to be a significant component of the group categorised as underemployed. Ireland has the second highest level of underemployment in the EU, after Spain. A total of 7.4% of employees here report seeking additional hours while the EU average is 4.4%. Since the third quarter of 2008, the first year for which Ireland has data, the number of underemployed persons has increased by 50.5% This compares to a growth of 31.9% across the EU during this period. This problem is not confined to the fringes of the job market or to low-paid sectors. Individuals on precarious contracts work in all sectors and in occupations across the pay and earning spectrum. I make that point because there should be a pull factor in activation. When people talk about activation, they tend to talk only about the push factor but there should also be a pull factor in a properly functioning labour market, where people are drawn into that market by the attractive proposition that work pays.

I wish to draw the committee's attention to the role of apprenticeships in delivering a smooth transition to the labour market which should not be ignored. Apprenticeships are in the process of expanding beyond their traditional and, overwhelmingly, male roles. There is an opportunity here for the new apprenticeship system to offer employment opportunities at levels 6 to 9 on the national framework of qualifications. The national apprenticeship advisory committee, with its tripartite structure, facilitates an engagement on the wages and conditions attaching to proposed new apprenticeships.

On the issue of Brexit, the only certainty is uncertainty. There may well be inflows into the labour market from the UK from Irish people returning and also from eastern European migrants who are uncertain about their future in Britain, especially in England, and who may well have family links in Ireland. Most immigrants have networks, as we Irish know only too well. People may be lifting the phone to find out how things are in Ireland compared to Nottingham, for example. This may well mean that those who are distant from the labour market will become more distant. There is also the issue of the sectoral balance of jobs. Trader jobs in the International Financial Services Centre, IFSC, will not replace factory-floor jobs in the food industry in the Border, midland and western, BMW, region.

In focusing on job quality, one blot on the landscape is the abuse of internships. In some sectors, such as arts and the media, exploitative practices are becoming a normal entry route. By this I mean unpaid internships. The State should not be encouraging such practices and it is in this context that we welcome the decision to terminate JobBridge. If it is felt necessary by the State to subsidise employment, it should be regular employment which attract full rights under labour law from day one and which is targeted at particular groups in the labour market. The prospect of a scheme to replace JobBridge should be viewed with great caution. Any such scheme should have adequate and enforceable measures against displacement. The need for a subsidised work experience scheme is questionable given that the changed economic context which has shifted from high unemployment to relatively buoyant conditions. In the second quarter of 2016, the youth unemployment rate in the 16 to 24 year old category had dropped to 16.5% and the overall rate was 9.1%.

My colleague, Ms Lorraine Mulligan will take over now.