Mr. John McKeon:

That is correct. We circulated an opening statement prior to the meeting and, in the interest of time, I will not read through it slavishly. I am joined by Mr. Barry Kennedy, who looks after activation operations for the Department, and Mr. Donal Spellman, who runs our eastern region, which includes counties Wicklow and Carlow. They can answer specific questions, if necessary.

I will start with a quick labour market update because it has been of interest to the committee on other occasions on which I have been in attendance. Members are aware that the employment rate has increased. It has risen by approximately 4.5%, or nearly 5%, since the trough in 2012. The overall figure stands, with seasonal adjustment, at approximately 1.9 million, representing an uplift of close to 80,000.

We were asked before about insecure employment. If measured in terms of the share of workers on temporary contracts, one notes the rate grew during the recession from approximately 9.5% to 10.5%. However, it has fallen back to the pre-recession level and remains below the EU average, which is approximately 13.5%.

As a proportion of the overall employment rate, the percentage of part-time employment, representing another form of insecure employment, rose quite significantly during the recession, from approximately 17% to approximately 24%, but it has actually fallen since because most of the employment growth has been in full-time jobs. The share is now back to under 23%, which is broadly similar to the European average. Overall, the unemployment rate rose from 5% to over 15%, but it has now fallen back to approximately 10.6%, according to the latest CSO estimate. The number of unemployed people has fallen from over 327,000 to just about 230,000 in November 2014.

We have been asked before about regional variation. Regional variation in unemployment is relatively low by European standards. In fact, Denmark is the only country with a lower level. That does not mean there is not any. The highest unemployment rate, in the midlands, is over 14%. The lowest, in Dublin, is 10.2%. Around the country there is a variation of 4%, but it can be far wider in other European countries.

Youth unemployment has decreased quite significantly, from over 30% in 2012 to approximately 23%, according to the last QHS report. The youth unemployment rate is high, at about twice the overall rate. Generally, the youth unemployment rate tends to be twice the overall rate, even during boom periods, because of lower participation rates among young people. Therefore, the rate is what one would expect given the overall rate of unemployment. In absolute terms, the number of young people unemployed is estimated at 48,000, by comparison with 83,000 at the peak. Therefore, there has been a very significant reduction. Long-term unemployment has fallen sharply by comparison with the very sharp increase during the recession. There was an increase from 31,000 to over 200,000 but the figure is now down to 139,000. The total long-term rate has fallen from 9.5% to 6.4%. That is the good news but there is still bad news and there are challenges.

A particular challenge concerns the very long-term unemployed. Our submission contains a graph showing the share of long-term unemployment accounted for by people who are unemployed for three years or more. They number approximately 100,000, which figure is relatively stagnant. Therefore, the unemployment rate is falling among those who have been unemployed for shorter periods but not among those who have been unemployed for longer periods. Males comprise a disproportionate share. Some 72% of very long-term unemployed people are male. Age is a consideration in this group. Middle-aged and older age cohorts are disproportionately represented in respect of all durations of unemployment. Figures show that the over-35s share of long-term unemployment has increased from 40% to over 80%. That is particularly noteworthy and means that a case worker in the Department is much more likely to be sitting opposite a male who is over 35 than a young person under 25. The challenge in reducing long-term unemployment is finding jobs for males over 35. We should not forget that.

I will not elaborate on Pathways to Work. We have discussed it fairly recently so I will skip it.

On the INOU survey, the Department has a very long and co-operative relationship with the INOU and was pleased to facilitate the survey. Although it is a small survey, we believe it comprises valuable input. It contains real stories from real people and real offices. Overall, it gives a positive assessment of the client's journey. It does outline some negative experiences, however, and we must acknowledge that. In acknowledging it, we must bear in mind the sheer scale of the Department's operations. For example, the approximately 6,500 staff in the Department process 2 million claims every year and answer over 8 million telephone calls. They make over 85 million payments to over 1.4 million people. The proportion of complaints and bad experiences is tiny relative to the scale of the operation.

Approximately 3,000 staff in our Intreo offices focus on jobseekers. Last year, they processed over 500,000 claims. They hosted over 186,000 people at group engagement sessions and conducted over 330,000 one-to-one case-officer–client interviews. With the exception of new claims, there was a considerable increase in the activity level in this regard. For example, the number of group engagement interactions increased by over 50% last year by comparison with the previous year. It is important to note that all the performance improvements happened during a period of great change. There were considerable changes to staff working conditions. Not only were there public-service-wide reductions in pay but all our staff had to move into new roles, learn new skills and take on new duties. Major building works were taking place around them while they worked, and there were men with Kango hammers in the offices. It is fair to say the staff responded magnificently to the challenge.

Given that background, it is not surprising that there might have been instances when the delivery of service to customers was less than perfect.

However, we need to put it in that context. Given the level of change taking place, it is not unexpected that staff will take time to get used to their new roles. That is the issue.