Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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Question 54: To ask the Minister for Social Protection if he will provide details on his Department's efforts to help persons return to work; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39993/10]

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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The Department of Social Protection operates a range of employment support measures designed to encourage and support social welfare recipients of working age to reduce their dependency on welfare payments. These include the employment support schemes, the activation programme and the Department's role in the National Employment Action Plan. The Department also supports new activation measures undertaken by other agencies, for example, the Work Placement Programme administered by FÁS and the Labour Market Activation Fund 2010 administered by the Department of Education and Skills.

The Back to Work Enterprise Allowance (BTWEA) is operated by my Department and is designed to provide a monetary incentive for people who are long term dependant on social welfare payments to make a return to work financially attractive and viable. The main purpose of the BTWEA is to encourage the long term unemployed to develop a business while allowing them to retain a reducing proportion of their qualifying social welfare payment. The Short Term Enterprise Allowance is payable to a person who qualifies for Jobseekers' Benefit and who wishes to commence in self employment. This allowance is payable for the duration of their Jobseeker's Benefit entitlement.

The Employer Job (PRSI) Incentive Scheme was launched on 20th June 2010. Under the scheme, if any employer takes on additional member of staff in 2010 who has been unemployed for 6 months or more, s/he will be exempted from paying employers' PRSI for 12 months. The job must be new and additional, be for at least 30 hours a week and last for at least 6 months. The purpose of the scheme is to support job creation and counter the drift of people into long-term unemployment and welfare dependency.

There is also a network of Facilitators (currently 66 serving) at a local level in my Department. Facilitators work with social welfare recipients to identify appropriate training or development programmes which will enhance the skills that the individual has and ultimately improve their employment chances, as well as help them to continue to develop personally. They work in close co-operation with other agencies and service providers including FÁS, VEC, other education and training providers and the local and community and voluntary sector. In addition they provide advice and support to customers who wish to access the back to education scheme, the back to work scheme, and the short term enterprise allowance scheme of the Department.

While the primary responsibility for job creation rests with the Department of Enterprise Trade and Innovation, this Department already has a role in supporting people from welfare to work. The National Employment Action Plan is the main activation measure for jobseekers and provides for a systematic engagement of the employment services with unemployed people. It has been in operation since 1998 and has proven successful in that period in assisting people on the live register back into employment. Under the Plan, all persons between the ages of 18 and 65 years who are approaching 3 months on the Live Register, are identified by the Department of Social Protection and referred to FÁS for interview with the aim of assisting them to enter/re-enter the labour market.

In the period January to end of August, 2010 (the latest period for which data is available to this Department) a total of 60,797 persons were referred to FÁS - this is an increase of 9% (4,914) over the same period in 2009. 46,146 (76%) were interviewed by FÁS and 9,489 (16%) were placed in jobs, training or education. The Employment Action plan process is a key element in addressing the progression needs of those on the Live Register. It provides a stimulus to job search and affords an opportunity to explore, under professional guidance, the full range of employment and training services offered by FÁS.

Currently under the National Employment Action Plan customers are referred on an individual basis by this Department to FÁS. Under a new initiative, aimed at increasing the capacity and the efficiency of the process, jobseekers are being referred to group engagement sessions. These group engagements are hosted jointly by FÁS and my Department. At the engagement presentations are given by FÁS and my Department's Facilitators providing relevant information and advice and arranging follow-on individual appointments where appropriate.

Recent statistics (CSO QNHS Q2 2010) show that long term unemployment has increased from 1.5% in Q2 2008 to 5.9% in Q2 2010. Preventing long-term unemployment is important from both economic and social perspectives, especially because long-term unemployment tends to lead to erosion of skills and self-confidence, and damages future employment prospects. Effective prevention depends on being able to identify those at risk of becoming long-term unemployed at an early stage, and referring them to appropriate labour market programmes to improve their chances of obtaining employment. This was the motivation for a recently published ESRI report (National Profiling of the Unemployed in Ireland ESRI Research Series No. 10) which developed a statistical profiling model for Ireland that would identify those individuals with a high risk of becoming long-term unemployed. This model is now being developed for use in the Department.

Under changes in ministerial responsibility announced earlier this year, the rural social scheme and community services programmes have transferred to this Department from the former Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs. Work is also underway to finalise the transfer of both the Employment and Community Services divisions of FÁS to my Department. Overall, the transfer of functions being implemented will facilitate the delivery of a more effective and streamlined response to the needs of the unemployed. Bringing together, under the aegis of one department, the employment services of FÁS, the expertise of its Placement Officers and the unemployment services of this Department as well as the Community Employment Schemes, Job Initiative Scheme, Community Services Programme and the Rural Social Scheme will offer significant opportunities to generate synergies, improve efficiency and, ultimately, improve service delivery to those availing of those services.