Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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100. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if he will implement Social Justice Ireland’s part-time job opportunities programme that could create 100,000 part-time jobs. [17469/14]

Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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With regard to the issue of job creation, will the Minister implement Social Justice Ireland’s part-time job opportunities programme, which could create in the region of 100,000 jobs? Is the Minister open to new ideas in regard to job creation? This is very important because there seems to be a mindset in this country at present that focuses on high quality, high education jobs while many of the long-term unemployed are being left behind.

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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In May 2011, Social Justice Ireland outlined a proposal for a part-time job opportunities programme in its pre-budget policy briefing. It envisaged that placements for the long-term unemployed, which do not fall within my area of responsibility, would be made in the public sector and the community and voluntary sector. However, my colleagues, the Ministers for Education and Skills and Social Protection, have introduced a number of new programmes, including Momentum and Gateway, which complement the traditional community employment and Tús programmes. Together, these schemes provide capacity for almost 40,000 persons who are long-term unemployed.

As the Deputy will be aware, this Government has made job creation a key priority since it came into office. We have introduced the Action Plan for Jobs with the objective to support the creation of 100,000 net new jobs in the economy by 2016. I am glad to say we have seen an improvement in the employment situation since Social Justice Ireland made its proposal in 2011. The most recent employment figures published by the Central Statistics Office showed a year-on-year increase of 61,000 people in employment at the end of 2013, net of reductions in the public sector. This was the fifth quarter in succession where employment grew on an annual basis and almost 90% of the jobs created were in full-time employment.

Unemployment at the end of 2013 was down 41,400 over the year and 60,000 over the past two years. The number of persons who are long-term unemployed fell by 40,000 over the two years. However, we cannot be complacent. We will continue to tackle long-term unemployment through the twin strategies of Pathways to Work and the Action Plan for Jobs as we continue towards our objective of supporting the creation of 100,000 extra jobs in the economy.

To answer the second question, we are certainly open to new ideas. Each year, the action plan evolves new proposals relating to suggestions or submissions made to us.

Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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I am glad to hear the Minister say he is open to it because we all agree that job creation is a key priority. My question concerns the long-term unemployed. We must accept the reality that these 100,000 people have been forgotten. Market-based initiatives will not deal with many of the long-term unemployed. It is great to see jobs coming in, particularly for highly educated people, but we cannot take our eye off the ball in respect of the 100,000 people who are long-term unemployed.

The proposal is for real employment at the going hourly rate. A total of 100,000 people are available. It would be a major step in the right direction and create in the region of 100,000 part-time jobs for unemployed people who would be paid at the hourly rate and work up to a maximum of 19.5 hours per week. Access would be on a voluntary basis only. The jobs would be created in the public and community and voluntary sectors. I asked this question because the voluntary and community sector is often excluded and the focus is on all the highly educated whizz kids out there. We cannot forget the 100,000 people who are long-term unemployed.

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy is missing the point. As I stated in my reply, we created 60,000 jobs. The live register came down by 60,000 in two years and 40,000 or two thirds of those people were long-term unemployed so the long-term unemployed are not people who do not respond to market opportunities. We are seeing a very significant reduction in the number of long-term unemployed people who are getting real jobs in the economy. Of course, we recognise the need for other measures for people who find it difficult which is why MOMENTUM, which is a part on-the-job and part off-the-job programme, was introduced. It is the reason why Gateway, which gives opportunities in local authorities, has been introduced and the reason why Tús has been expanded very substantially by the Minister for Social Protection. All of these programmes are targeted at people who are long-term unemployed but our objective is to get people back into the market economy.

Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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My focus is on the other measures. I accept the Minister's point. This experiment was tried in 1994 in areas like Finglas, Blanchardstown and Clonmel. It ended up creating in the region of 1,000 jobs in the community and voluntary sector. At the end of it, more than 500 people got real jobs and exited long-term unemployment. These are the other measures and we must focus on these issues. Additional funding in the region of €150 million would be required. Funding currently spent on social welfare payments to participants on this programme would be switched to their new employer. Participants would be paid principally through the reallocation of social welfare payments. I am encouraging the Minister to look constantly at new ideas about job creation and to keep his eye on the ball regarding the long-term unemployed.

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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I agree with that. However, the OECD produced a report on activation in the Irish labour market that came out very strongly against the kind of programme the Deputy is advocating and instead advocated in favour of the kind of programmes Ministers have introduced such as MOMENTUM and Gateway which have a very clear focus on activation and getting people back into the labour market. That is the direction policy is seeking to develop so that people are moved permanently into real jobs for the long term. That is the focus of the effort. As I said, 40,000 people are involved in community employment programmes that are not dissimilar to what the Deputy is advocating.