Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I propose to answer Questions Nos. 49 , 55 and 62 together. In the three years prior to taking office, over 300,000 jobs were lost. The collapse of the property bubble brought our banking system to a point of collapse and employment in the construction sector fell by 60%. The surge in unemployment is the direct consequence of these failed policies. A huge task of economic transformation is necessary to reverse these trends and get employment growing.

There are two major elements to the Government’s response to unemployment – Pathways to Work and the action plan for jobs. The aim of the action plan for jobs is to create a supportive environment for enterprise to create and sustain new jobs. We have set an ambitious but realistic target of creating 100,000 jobs by 2016.

The aim of Pathways to Work is ensure that as many opportunities as possible go to people who are currently on the live register, particularly those who are long-term unemployed. It has an objective of ensuring that at least 75,000 of those currently long-term unemployed will move into employment by 2015. It also aims to reduce the average time spent on the live register from 21 months to less than 12 months by the end of 2015.

The establishment of the new integrated national employment and entitlements service will transform the nature and level of engagement between our employment services and those who are unemployed. It will also provide better targeted services to both job seekers and employers. The labour market activation measures outlined in Pathways to Work include over 85,000 job placement and work experience places to be delivered this year by the Department of Social Protection, and over 450,000 training and education places to be delivered by the Department of Education and Skills. In addition, the financial supports available to employers who recruit a person who is long-term unemployed have been improved. These include Revenue’s job assist scheme and the employer’s PRSI exemption scheme operated by the Department of Social Protection. The Government has been actively promoting these schemes to employers in recent months, with the support of business representative bodies. We must continue to do all we can to facilitate the return to work of those who have lost their jobs. I am currently preparing the 2013 action plan for jobs on behalf of the Government and will be exploring further measures which can be taken to transform our economy and support job creation.

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