Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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72. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the extent to which the age profile of those on the live register continues to be monitored with a view to making any adjustments necessary to assist those most in need; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5293/15]

Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour)
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The Government’s primary strategy to reduce unemployment has been through policies to create the environment for a strong economic recovery by promoting competitiveness and productivity. Economic recovery will underpin jobs growth. This strategy is working. Employment has risen by about 80,000 in the last two years. The Government’s Pathways to Workstrategy for 2015 prioritises enhanced engagement services for young jobseekers and for the long-term unemployed, as well as providing additional activation measures, to ensure that these groups are able to benefit from the economic recovery.

Therefore the Department of Social Protection keeps a detailed breakdown of the profiles of jobseekers. Data on each client’s age, past occupation, and his/her education, is collected at the point of registration for job-seekers’ payment; these and other relevant data are processed and the probability of exiting the live register is calculated (PEX). This is essentially a predictor of whether or not someone will become long-term unemployed. The roll-out of the profiling system at the Department’s ‘one-stop-shop’ Intreo offices implicitly involves age profiling of the long-term unemployed, as age is one of the main determining variables in predicting if someone will become long-term unemployed. In other words, if someone is in an age category that is more likely to experience especially long-term unemployment, s/he will, all other things being equal, receive more targeted assistance.

In addition, the Youth Guarantee initiative is specifically aimed at those under 25 who are unemployed with specific targeting of those who are either long-term unemployed or are most at risk of becoming long-term unemployed.

Summary statistical information on the clients’ age, duration of unemployment, and last held occupation together with other demographic and regional information is published each month on the Central Statistics Office website.