Michael Mullins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am disappointed that he has failed to recognise some of the very significant improvements and increases in job numbers that have taken place in the country, particularly in the last 12 months. There is no need to remind him of the appalling situation that this Government inherited when it came into office two and a half years ago. All Ministers and Departments were charged by the Taoiseach to be innovative and job-creating and to work together to create significant employment. The Action Plan for Jobs is certainly working and I know that the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Burton, working with the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Bruton, is bringing about a situation where it will be easier for people to obtain employment and engage with employment opportunities.

The scourge of long-term unemployment is an indictment of successive Governments, which allowed two and three generations of families to be forgotten about. Such people have never experienced the dignity associated with going out to work to provide for a family and make a positive contribution to their country and to society. This has had a significant impact on peoples' health too, a fact which we should not lose sight of. Having people in gainful employment would have a very positive impact on the health budget.

Jobseekers are now offered group engagement, one-to-one interviews, skills and experience assessments, as well as training and work placements with the roll-out of the Intreo offices nationwide. I acknowledge the point raised by Senator Ó Clochartaigh and indeed, in my own town of Ballinasloe, the community welfare officer will no longer be based in the town but in Loughrea. Effectively, the largest town in the county will not have a community welfare officer and I am concerned about the hardship that will impose on people who will have to travel significant distances. However, I have been assured by the manager of the service that, in the main, interaction with people will be by telephone and e-mail and that in situations where people are unable to travel to the office, a community welfare officer will call to them. I welcome that assurance and ask for further assurance from the Minister that this will happen.

The JobBridge scheme was mentioned and I welcome the fact that 20,000 people have availed of it to date. It is a great scheme but I would like to see significant ongoing employment of the individuals involved at the end of the placement period. We should consider making it more attractive to employers to hold on to scheme participants because it has tremendous potential.

Senator Mary Ann O'Brien welcomed the cash incentive of €7,500 over two years that is available to employers who take on people who have been unemployed for 12 to 24 months. This scheme is under-marketed. We need to put more effort into ensuring that all employers are aware of this particular scheme, which has huge potential. Employers continue to complain that it is very expensive to hire an additional person and this is a real incentive that should be availed of. Senator Kelly spoke passionately about ensuring that work pays and that is an issue that must be addressed. We have to bite the bullet on it. Whether we like it or not, there are family configurations in this country in receipt of very significant amounts of welfare payments and such income is totally tax free. When one factors in the possibility that such people are in a local authority house with a very modest rent and may also be in receipt of a medical card, then taking up an offer of employment might not be worth their while. We cannot ignore that fact, which is contributing to significant numbers of people and families not taking up employment or even being interested in taking a job.

The community employment schemes are wonderful initiatives which bring great benefits to the participants and to the their communities. I urge the Minister to further increase the number of CE scheme places. I often wonder why some who are very long-term unemployed never seem to be offered the opportunity to participate in some of those CE schemes.

We have a culture of dependency and entitlement in this country that we need to address. We must, through the education system, instill more ambition into some of our young people. Children who come from families with no history of employment, in some cases for two or three generations, lack ambition. This must be addressed. Finally, we must make it easy for people to access employment and to sign on and off when they obtain short-term employment. I spoke to an employer earlier today who said that people who are offered work for five or six weeks should be able to submit their unemployment docket, sign off for the days they are working but be able to re-activate their social welfare ---