Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

The national employment action plan is the Government's main welfare to work measure. It has been in operation since 1998 and proved successful in that period in assisting people on the live register back into employment. It is a preventive strategy that provides systematic engagement of the employment services with the unemployed.

The operation of the plan involves referral of people on the live register who have been unemployed for a certain period to FÁS. Currently, every person between the ages of 18 and 65 years approaching three months on the live register is referred to FÁS for interview with a view to assisting them in finding employment. Clients are given an interview time and are requested to present for interview with a FÁS employment officer at the appointed time. It is a key element of the Government's labour market policy. The employment action plan provides access to the range of employment, training and education opportunities afforded by FÁS.

In the five years ending December 2007, a total of 226,052 people on the live register were referred to FÁS under the plan. A total of 149,806 were interviewed, of whom 39,022 were placed in jobs, training or education and a further 31,401 left the live register shortly after the interview but without additional intervention from FÁS. In the period between January and August 2008, a total of 40,407 people were referred to FÁS, of whom 26,132 were interviewed by the agency and 4,618 were placed in jobs, training or education. Information is not collected on those returning to the live register in a manner that would identify whether their most recent employment resulted from a FÁS job placement.

The employment action plan process is a key element in addressing the progression needs of those on the live register. It provides a stimulus to job search and affords an opportunity to explore, under professional guidance, the full range of employment and training services offered by FÁS. In addition to the plan, a range of other education and employment supports are available to persons in receipt of welfare payments. These initiatives are designed to assist and facilitate people on social welfare payments to return to the active labour force. These measures include the back to work allowance and back to education allowance, which I dealt with earlier. A team of facilitators is also in place in the Department to provide additional, more intensive assistance, for those who need it such as people who have been identified by FÁS as needing further support.

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