Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour)
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In the first instance, the Government’s primary strategy to tackle unemployment in Tuam, as with the rest of the country, is to create the environment for a strong economic recovery by promoting competitiveness and productivity. Economic recovery will underpin jobs growth.

However, the Government also recognises the need for additional measures to address unemployment in the interim while the economy recovers. This is the rationale behind the Government’s Pathways to Work Strategy which is being led by the Department of Social Protection.

Job activation programmes are an important part of these additional measures. Data on the number of participants in job activation programmes is not readily available for the Tuam area, but are available at the County level for most programmes. Table 1 provides a breakdown of participants as at end December 2014 for County Galway.

Table 1 Job Activation Programmes for County Galway