Dáil debates
Tuesday, 28 January 2014
Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions
Unemployment Data
2:05 pm
Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source
In the year to quarter 3, 2013, the long-term unemployment rate declined from 8.9% to 7.6% and the youth unemployment rate declined from over 31% to 26.5%. EUROSTAT estimates that this fell further to under 25% by the end of 2013. New data for 2013 is expected to be available from the Central Statistics Office in late February. The overall unemployment rate, per the CSO, was 12.4% at the end of December last, down from a high of over 15% a few years ago.
Pathways to Work is an ambitious programme to address long-term unemployment. We started in 2012 by rolling out the Intreo approach to improve how we engage with unemployed jobseekers. Some 43 of the Department's local offices are now delivering the Intreo service and this will be extended to all our offices by the end of 2014.
As part of the new approach a total of 130,100 people attended group engagements during 2013, up from 68,600 in 2012; some 156,700 people have attended initial one-to-one personal interviews; and a further 136,900 follow-up one-to-one interviews were also completed. The Department releases a quarterly report on the performance against the Pathways to Work targets and this is available on the Department's website.
I also established a labour market council comprised of employers, labour market experts and advocacy groups to advise the Department in the implementation and further development of such initiatives. The co-operation of employers is essential if we are to continue progress in reducing the live register.
Under Pathways to Work we rolled out several new schemes such as JobBridge, Tús and MOMENTUM and we are prioritising access to these and other schemes to people who are already long-term unemployed or at most risk of becoming long-term unemployed. Data on the number of participants on these schemes is in the following table.
Table : Number of Activation Programme Participants, November 2012 and November 2013
| - | Nov-12 | Nov-13 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Back to Work allowance scheme – Employee strand. * | 21 | 11 | ||
| Back to Work Enterprise allowance scheme – self-employed strand. | 10,884 | 10,152 | ||
| Short-term Enterprise Allowance ** | 1,138 | 640 | ||
| Total - Back to Work schemes | 12,043 | 10,803 | ||
| Part-time Job Incentive | 215 | 313 | ||
| TÚS - Community Work Placement Initiative | 4,522 | 6,849 | ||
| JobBridge -National Internship Scheme | 5,503 | 6,174 | ||
| Total - Other Activation Programmes | 10,240 | 13,336 | ||
| Vocational Training Opportunities Scheme (VTOS) | 5,000 | 5,000 | ||
| Back to Education Allowance *** | 25,819 | 25,162 | ||
| Total - Back to Education Courses: | 30,819 | 30,162 | ||
| Community Employment Schemes (excluding Supervisors) | 21,102 | 22,238 | ||
| FAS full time training for the unemployed | 9,857 | 9,199 | ||
| TOTAL | 84,061 | 85,738 | ||
** This scheme provides immediate support for someone in receipt of Jobseeker’s Benefit who wants to start a business.
*** BTEA figures include all schemes but participants from JA & JB are not entitled to BTEA during the summer holidays.
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