Ms Bríd O'Brien:

I am grateful for the invitation to meet the committee on the issue of unemployment blackspots. The submission and presentation focus on the challenges that face people who are unemployed, whether they live in areas that would be deemed unemployment blackspots or face exclusion from, or isolation in, the labour market because of the community they are from or their particular personal or family circumstances or both.

I will not go through all of our submission because we have a time limit but I draw attention to the table on page 3 of the report, which deals with the labour force survey from quarter 2 of 2022, the quarter when the census was taken and the most recent survey from quarter 2 of 2024. The table outlines how people define themselves with regard to principal economic status, which is how the unemployment figures are captured in the census and the labour force survey. What is interesting to note is that 20,000 more people identified themselves as unemployed in the most recent quarter. Then, when we look at how people would be defined by the International Labour Organization, which is the official definition and refers to people who have been actively seeking work in the previous four weeks and are available to take up work in the next two weeks, that figure is almost 6,000 higher in the most recent quarter in comparison to the quarter in which the census was taken. Therefore, while the overall figures have improved, it is interesting to note how people view themselves and, moreover, when we consider how they would be defined according to the ILO definition, the numbers have gone up.

There are three profiles in the census that we feel are important to draw to the committee's attention, although no doubt members are well aware of them. Profile 7 looks at employment, occupations and commuting and at the data on short-term and long-term unemployment and people looking for their first job. This threw up some interesting statistics, some of which were not that surprising. Short-term unemployment was higher among younger people and long-term unemployment was higher among older people and we can see that also carries through in the statistics we get on a more regular basis. When looking at the data from the perspective of the towns, by and large, unemployment was higher in rural towns.

I will move on to the Pobal HP deprivation index. Unfortunately, this was not included in the submission we sent to the committee and I will send it on later. It highlights some of the issues that have been raised concerning the challenges that face people in rural areas, which we are keenly aware of due to the work of our affiliates in those regions, who try to address the issues of unemployment facing the people with whom they are working.

We also included data from profile 5, which covers diversity, migration, ethnicity, Irish Travellers and religion. I would draw the attention of members to that table, which shows that 3,500 Irish Travellers identified as being long-term unemployed out of a working-age population of just under 21,000, which is a much higher percentage than for the overall population. Even though the employment figures were an improvement in this census in comparison to previous ones, I know from previously having worked with the Pavee Point Traveller and Roma Centre, and from engaging with colleagues who work on those issues, that access to employment remains a serious issue for the Traveller community.

Profile 4 covers disability, health and carers and we have pulled out information on the unemployment figures for people with a disability. There is a distinction between people experiencing difficulty “to any extent”, “to a great extent” or “to some extent”, and, not unsurprisingly, those who experience difficulty “to a great extent” have a higher unemployment rate. This highlights the challenge that faces us as a society in trying to create a truly inclusive labour market for people who wish to work, are able to work and can find work that they can access.

The Pobal HP deprivation index is very useful in terms of what it highlights and the detailed information and “smaller community” information that we get from it most of the time – unfortunately, we only get it at the time of the census and not for the rest of the year.

The definition of deprivation that it uses, and the fundamental implication of the term “deprivation”, is of an absence of essential or desirable attributes, possessions and opportunities which are considered no more than the minimum by the society. That is a useful definition to be mindful of as we look at these issues.

When it launched the index, Pobal noted that the majority of communities had seen improvements in employment when compared to population growth. However, it also noted that disadvantaged communities had not seen the same level of improvement, putting those communities further from the average in relative terms, and the number of people living in such communities had increased by over 50,000. It also noted that disadvantaged communities experienced significantly higher levels of unemployment, low educational attainment and higher rates of lone parenthood. Again, these are the areas for which the term “unemployment blackspot” has often been used in the past. Pobal noted that disadvantage is disproportionately experienced in small pockets in Dublin city centre and its northern and western suburbs, on the outskirts of Cork, Waterford and Limerick and in a small number of rural towns. It also noted that urban areas showed a higher proportion of disadvantaged areas and affluent areas, while there tend to be fewer extremes in rural areas.

One of the commitments in Pathways to Work was to reintroduce what it termed an employment and youth engagement charter. We undertook work with a range of young people around the country in preparation for that charter. In response to the questions, the groups discussed what commitments they would like employers to make to help young people to access a good job. The participants suggested that employers should give them opportunities, ensure applications would be welcome from young people without experience, treat young people's applications fairly and treat young staff fairly, which was a big issue in quite a number of the groups, and welcome diversity. The full report is available on our website.

In May of this year, the Ministers, Deputy Heather Humphreys and Deputy Peter Burke, launched the employment and youth engagement charter. Even though it is a youth engagement charter, it has a wider application than just young people and it is also aimed at older people, which is particularly important from a long-term unemployment perspective. The charter contains six options to encourage employers to take advantage of the incentives and supports and encourage them to employ people who are unemployed through schemes like the work placement programme, the JobsPlus scheme and the wage subsidy scheme, which is for people who have a disability. It seeks to encourage them to host events and talk to people about applying for a job and how to write a CV and prepare for interview. Getting a job is a job in itself. Some people are great at it but the vast majority of us are not and we need pointers, advice and help. That is particularly true of people who have tried, had no joy and do not know where they went wrong. It would be good if those who are seeking employees would work with those who are seeking jobs and perhaps give them good advice that could make a difference.

We recently heard from an affiliate who ran a local event and invited 30 people who were unemployed to meet with employers. It was a good event with good engagement and 20 of the 30 people secured employment. When people put in the time and resources, try to focus and have people running events who try to address those issues and make those connections, it can make a big difference.