Written answers

Thursday, 5 February 2015

Department of Social Protection

Unemployment Data

Photo of Willie O'DeaWillie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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42. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if she will provide the latest statistics for the long-term unemployed here; if she is satisfied with the current impact of labour activation matters in her Department; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4914/15]

Photo of Joan BurtonJoan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The latest data on the long-term unemployed are from the CSO’s Quarterly National Household Survey (QNHS) for Q3 2014. The number of long-term unemployed at that time was 139,000, down by over 60,000, or almost one third, from the level seen in 2012. The long term unemployment rate has fallen from a peak of 9.5% in 2012 to 6.4% in late 2014.

The Pathways to WorkStrategy sets out a comprehensive reform of the State’s approach to helping unemployed jobseekers return to work. Since its inception in 2012, there have been a number of reforms including the new one-stop model of Intreo; increasing initial one-to-one guidance interviews with jobseekers (with the number of such interviews, at 169,000 in 2014, up 8% on 2013); and making 57,000 FET places available to the long-term unemployed.

In addition to on-going measures, Pathways to Work2015 includes additional actions. First, from early 2015, a structured process of engagement with the existing long-term unemployed will commence. This will see at least 8,300 long-term unemployed people being referred to the activation process (Group Engagement followed by regular one-to-one case officer contact) each month in early 2015.

Second, a new employment services model, JobPath, will be rolled out in 2015. It is a payment by results contract model with third party providers of employment services specifically targeted at long-term unemployed jobseekers. JobPath aims to provide additional capacity to the Public Employment Service in order to enable it engage more systematically with long-term unemployed jobseekers.

In support of these enhanced engagement processes, 57,000 FET places will continue to be reserved for the long-term unemployed in 2015. A minimum of 16,000 places for the long-term unemployed will also be provided through key public employment programmes. This includes an expansion of the JobsPlus initiative, an employment subsidy that incentivises employers to recruit the long-term unemployed.

There are definite signs that, in tandem with the recovery in economic demand, reforms undertaken to date are having some impact in improving the employment prospects of people who are unemployed. I am satisfied these measures together with reforms planned for 2015 will help to bring about continuing falls in unemployment and especially long-term unemployment.

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