Mr. Niall Egan:

The Deputy quoted an approximate figure of 2 million people. The labour force has increased substantially since then. I think the current figure is 2.4 million or 2.5 million people in the labour force. There is always churn in the labour market. Even when we were at our peak of full employment with an unemployment figure of 4%, we would still have had a significant component on the live register. From memory, it was approximately 150,000 people, but maybe not exactly that number. That number represents two key elements. One is the churn, which is the normal labour market working in terms of people transitioning in and out of employment and moving between jobs. Two is probably the cohort the Deputy was referring to, a cohort who would have been long-term or very long-term unemployed.

The Department and Government policy since has been for the Department of Social Protection to take on board the community welfare office and FÁS services essentially to provide employment services to all individuals who are unemployed, with a particular focus on long-term and very long-term unemployed. That is the model Intreo has been built up on, and we have worked collaboratively with our external service partners to deliver that. The Deputy is correct. There are some individuals who are so distant from the labour market that a job is going to be a very long pathway for them to get to. However, the Department's policy is to engage with that individual and send him or her to progression opportunities that are best suited to his or her needs. I have spoken to many individuals within the sector. That can be just the structure of essentially getting them into a routine again that some of our providers currently provide. It can also be support employment schemes. Community employment, Tús, and the rural social scheme, RSS, are important employment supports for the cohorts the Deputy refers to and can lead to other longer term employment thereafter.