Seanad debates

Tuesday, 26 January 2016

Commencement Matters (Resumed)

Labour Activation Measures

2:30 pm

Photo of Marie MoloneyMarie Moloney (Labour)
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I thank the Minister of State for coming into the Chamber to take this matter. I apologise that my voice is suffering; it was not by any means from cheering on Kerry at the weekend. Before I speak about unregistered unemployed persons, I commend and acknowledge the work the Minister of State, the Minister and the Department have done to lower the number on the live register. I appreciate that priority had to be given to reducing the high number on the live register and that it was a mammoth task to get people back to work. As the figure has been lowered significantly, I am now asking that attention be given to unregistered unemployed persons and, in particular, bringing them into activation programmes. Who do I mean when I refer to the "unregistered unemployed"? I mean self-employed persons who, through no fault of their own or as a result of the recession, have seen their businesses go belly-up. They are no longer in self-employment and some of them cannot access jobseeker's allowance as they have property or their spouse is working. We also have women in the home whose children have reached the age of 14 years. They are no longer in receipt of homemaker's credits and would like to get back to work. We have college students who are looking for their first job such. They cannot sign on until September. even though it is acknowledged that they have finished college. In many cases, their parents do not want them to sign on because they think it would be bad for them. They want them to look for a job instead. There are, therefore, a number of people who are, in fact, unemployed but not registered. In particular, I urge that attention be given to women in the home. A number of years ago a course was set up by FÁS for women who wanted to return to work having reared their children. The course helped them re-enter the workforce. A similar course should be introduced.

I have been very vocal in this House and committees on the situation faced by self-employed persons, many of whom do not realise that even if they access jobseeker's allowance, they will not have a credited contribution because they are moving from self-employment. This will be detrimental to them later in terms of their pensions and they do not realise it. They are getting a few bob from the Department of Social Protection, but they do not realise the situation in which they find themselves. Furthermore, if they do not make a voluntary contribution within 12 months of making their last contribution, they will not be allowed to make one at all. They will then find themselves in no-man's land and in years to come will see a big reduction in their pensions.

I think the Minister of State will find it funny when I tell him what happened yesterday when my secretary googled the words "unregistered unemployed" to see if there was any category on which I was missing out. We discovered that on 13 December 1934 an oral question had been asked on the subject in the Dáil. Some 82 years ago a Deputy Doyle spoke about it. He asked the then Minister for Industry and Commerce who happened to be Seán Lemass a question about it. It is ironic that 82 years later I am asking questions about the unregistered unemployed, although I am sure they have been asked during the years too. I await the Minister of State's reply. Now that things are getting better, we really need to turn towards that cohort to bring them into the system, have them activated and brought back into employment.

Photo of Kevin HumphreysKevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour)
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We are certainly moving in the right direction. Five years ago the rate of unemployment was 15.2%. It is now below 9% and moving in the right direction. It was natural that there would be a concentration on assisting those in receipt of benefits to get back into employment. The distribution of what was a scarce resource was prioritised, I believe correctly. Now, as we move from recession into recovery, the topic raised by the Senator is timely. We have to discuss how we spend the fruits of the recovery and can ensure everyone will have an opportunity to share in it.The Senator has raised the issue of the unregistered unemployed with me numerous times, not only here in the House but also privately and I understand the concerns she has articulated especially over the past two years.

When the resources available to help people who are unemployed find work are constrained it makes sense that the State should allocate those resources, in the first instance, to those people upon whom it imposes an obligation to look for work. Having said that, many services are also available to unemployed people who are not in receipt of a qualifying social welfare payment, regardless of their previous employment or self-employment status. For example, employment services, such as advice on job search activities and the use of online job search tools, are available to people if they register as jobseekers with the Department’s Intreo centres, regardless of their social welfare status. In addition, unemployed persons not in receipt of payments may also be eligible to avail of upskilling opportunities, for example through an education and training board, ETB, formerly FÁS, training for unemployed people.

Although they are not eligible to receive a training allowance while undertaking the course, as the allowance is related to the level of people’s prior welfare payment they may receive some support for travel and meals costs. Springboard and Skillnets courses for unemployed people, funded through the Department of Education and Skills, are also open to people who are unemployed, regardless of their social welfare status.

Finally, activation services and programmes are generally available to other groups of welfare recipients who are not required to be unemployed, in other words, to be available for, and actively seeking, work. The two main groups involved here are recipients of lone parent's payments and of disability allowance. In fact, people on disability payments have access to a range of programmes and supports such as the wage subsidy scheme, the employability service and specialised training courses that are not available to other jobseekers.

The Department is training some staff in all of its Intreo centres to improve the quality of service offered to people with disabilities. As the economic recovery continues and demands on the employment service to work with unemployed people diminish, the Government has signalled its intention, in Pathways to Work 2016-2020, to extend proactive engagement to people of working age beyond the primary target group of people who are fully unemployed and receiving a jobseeker payment. Among the main groups under consideration for the expansion of services are: casual and part-time workers who receive welfare support; adult dependants of jobseeker claimants; "voluntary engagers", people who are not on the live register but wish to avail of employment services; and people in receipt of disability payments who may have a capacity to work and an interest in employment. Pathways to Work has a number of specific actions, for example, developing a proactive approach to support qualified adult dependants of people on welfare payments access employment, and expanding the use of Intreo centres by people with a disability, an objective that will be enabled by the staff training to which I already referred. In short, the Government is committed to assisting as many people as possible to become more self-sufficient through work and will do this by developing and building on the successful implementation of the Pathways to Work strategy.

That does not cover all of Senator Moloney’s contribution on pensions and pension contributions but this Government has made a commitment to start expanding the supports to people who are not receiving a benefit from the Department and helping as many people as possible to participate in the recovery that has started. There will be many opportunities for people to get back into employment and the Intreo service, which is an excellent one, in the Senator’s town will help people who had a break in their career, either because they were self-employed and their business went bust or because they took time out to rear children, back into work. The Intreo centres have grown roots in almost every major town in the country and they will be built on and expanded to provide a service to the citizens.

Photo of Marie MoloneyMarie Moloney (Labour)
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I thank the Minister of State for his very detailed reply. I am delighted to see the groups under consideration for expansion of the service.If the Minister of State or the Minister, Deputy Joan Burton, are not in their positions in the period ahead, I hope this will be continued by whoever will have responsibility for it because it is vital that people such as women in the home or dependent adults in receipt of a payment have an opportunity to get back into the workforce.

It is also welcome that people with disabilities are being looked after. I have always advocated that just because a person has a disability does not mean he or she cannot work. I am delighted that that is the case.

The extension of the community employment scheme to people in their golden years went down very well with them. They are thrilled about this and I hope the scheme will be expanded further.

This may be my last chance to raise the issue, about which I have been harping on for quite some time. I thank the Minster of State for his reply and hope what he outlined will come to fruition.

Photo of Kevin HumphreysKevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour)
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I thank the Senator. There is nothing more important than having a role model within the household of somebody going out to work.

The Senator mentioned the year 1934 and the question to the then Minister, Mr. Lemass, but we should look back and learn from what happened in the 1990s. During the previous recession there was a group of persons who lost their jobs and did not have an opportunity to go out to work and were left behind as a ersult. With their families, they did not see the Celtic tiger. What we saw in many instances was intergenerational unemployment. What we must do as a team of elected representatives of the people is to make sure, as we move from recession into recovery, everybody will have an opportunity to share in the recovery. The best way to share in it is to ensure every household will have a role model of one member being back at work in order that everybody can aspire to having a good job that pays a fair wage, a good career and a good home and being able to rear a family. The Government, including the Tánaiste, is committed to doing this. That is the reason the Tánaiste introduced the changes in Intreo offices and brought forward so many schemes to make sure persons who were unemployed could stay in contact with the workforce, whether through training, community employment schemes, the JobBridge programme and many other elements. JobsPlus is also playing a significant role in allowing persons who are long-term unemployed to get back into employment.

I accept fully what the Senator has said about those who do not receive a payment from the Department of Social Protection and who have not been able to access such payments in the way she and I would wish, but as we move from recession into recovery, there is an opportunity to make sure they will receive these supports which will help them to get back into employment.

I thank the Senator for the support she gave me in the House during the year I have been a Minister of State. I look forward to working with her in the future.

Photo of Marie MoloneyMarie Moloney (Labour)
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I thank the Minister of State.

Sitting suspended at 3.15 p.m. and resumed at 3.30 p.m.