Hildegarde Naughton (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Joan Burton. In the Taoiseach's address at the recent IBEC president's dinner he stated: "When this Government came into office we declared that we could no longer tolerate a passive welfare system that abandoned hundreds of thousands of people to unemployment without any real support or engagement." The Government has been proactive in addressing this issue by introducing the Pathways to Work strategy. I compliment all Departments on their commitment in tackling the issue head-on. Long-term unemployment is a cancer in our society. It is demoralising and the psychological implications can lead to the loss of friends, confidence, isolation and depression. Skills previously acquired become obsolete, which, in turn, decreases the chances of gaining meaningful employment. Long-term unemployment also increases the economic burden on the State in the form of higher social welfare payments which lead to increased Government borrowing and less tax revenue.

The Pathways to Work strategy seeks to address some of these issues by putting in place a strategy not only to assist the long-term unemployed but also to support the betterment of society as a whole. The 50 point action plan involves all of the relevant stakeholders from Departments and State agencies working together. The plan contains ten key performance indicators, the first of which is completion of personal profiles of all 422,900 people on the live register in order that personalised employment supports can be developed for them. The second involves initial one-to-one guidance interviews with job seekers, with 185,000 such interviews to be carried out this year. The availability of profiling of individuals is crucial to the success of the strategy. This includes the length of time an individual has been unemployed, the implications of long-term unemployment and the individual's ability to engage with employment services and possible employers. To this end, I hope profiles will include self-development support and training for individuals before they enter any level of employment. It is imperative that any psychological need they may have is addressed, including confidence building. Many who have been out of work find it difficult to re-enter the workforce without adequate holistic supports. These interviews should not be about ticking the right boxes to create favourable statistics. They should be aimed at developing genuine understanding of a person's situation and his or her needs in returning to the workforce after a long period of unemployment. Will adequate upskilling, self-development and confidence building programmes be made available to them before they are expected to engage in interviews or re-enter the workforce?

The provision of a one-stop-shop of service supports is welcome as a means of creating a more streamlined approach to the service and support systems needed by the long-term unemployed. It is the intention to roll out all of the Intreo offices by the end of the year. The Pathways to Work strategy will not be implemented properly until all of the support mechanisms are in place throughout the country to meet the needs of those who require support. I urge the Minister to progress the delivery of the Intreo network in order that all of the services can be delivered effectively and in a timely manner. The pace of roll-out of these office is slower than promised. Is there any way Senators might help the Minister to expedite delivery of this vital cornerstone of the Government's jobs agenda?

An interim report recently produced by Indecon found that 52% of almost 3,000 JobBridge participants had been in paid employment since completing their internships.

The JobsPlus scheme introduced earlier this year offers employers fixed cash grants to hire people who have been long-term unemployed for periods ranging from 12 months to four years. To qualify for this payment, positions must be for more than 30 hours a week spanning four days and subject to the usual PAYE and PRSI deductions. A total of €7,500 is available to employers who take on people who have been unemployed for more than 12 months and less than four years, while €10,000 is available to those who are unemployed for four years or more. Unemployed persons who wish to take up employment under the scheme must be signing on for jobseeker's benefit, jobseeker's allowance or credits.

We are discussing the issue of the long-term unemployed, but we must also ensure school leavers or those who, for whatever reason, are on the live register do not become another statistic and in the future are classed as long-term unemployed. Is it necessary to review the eligibility criteria for those wishing to avail of internships under the JobBridge scheme? The current qualifying criteria to avail of a placement under the scheme are to be in receipt of social welfare payments for approximately three months or signing on for credits. We must guard against the danger that young graduates or those who recently lost their jobs may lose enthusiasm and self-esteem while they wait for three months before being eligible for an internship which may hold the possibility of offering new employment prospects.

The OECD report recommends that Ireland do much more to assist the unemployed, notably long-term jobseekers. It points to a critical need for support and retraining to ward against social exclusion and ensure young people are prepared to work as the recovery strengthens. Research undertaken by the ESRI in 2012 indicated a specific policy approach was required to address the issues of jobless households. During the boom years of the early 2000s the rate of joblessness at household level was very high by European standards. The ESRI concluded this reflected structural factors and had little to do with the recession. During the period between 2005 and 2007, when the economy was ostensibly strong and the unemployment rate was at a very low level of 4% or 5%, Ireland had a very low work intensity rate which oscillated between 13% and 15%, while it was 10% on average in the European Union. The ESRI found Ireland reported a relatively high rate of joblessness among working age adults. The research found that the proportion of people in jobless households had increased very rapidly following the onset of the recent economic downturn from 15% in 2007 to 22%, double the average throughout Europe.

The Government inherited a passive social welfare system which did not empower the people it was supposed to help. We now have a window of opportunity for long overdue reform of social welfare structures through the roll-out of the Intreo offices, tackling poverty traps such as replacing rent supplement with the housing assistance payment scheme, and additional management resources to assist in dealing with long-term unemployment. I commend the strategy of the Government and its commitment to tackle the problem of long-term unemployment once and for all, an issue which was neglected in the past.