Written answers
Tuesday, 21 April 2015
Department of An Taoiseach
Job Creation
Terence Flanagan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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226. To ask the Taoiseach his views on a matter (details supplied) regarding unemployment figures. [14003/15]
Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy requested the following details-
Regarding the current unemployment figures, can you advise how many people are currently on the various back to work/further education schemes? Can you provide a breakdown on this for each county/constituency including the Dublin Bay north constituency? Can you also confirm if the people on the various back to work/education schemes are included in the overall unemployment figures that are published on a regular basis? If they are not, can you please provide an explanation why this is the case?
The CSO can supply statistical related information pertaining to the Deputy's request for details regarding unemployment figures.
The table below outlines the number of people on the various activation schemes run by the Department of Social Protection. There were 85,769 people in total engaged in these schemes in February 2015. The CSO does not have a geographical breakdown of these schemes.
People who are engaged in work based activation programmes do not fall under the definition of being unemployed and do not appear in the unemployment estimates as reported by the Quarterly National Household Survey (QNHS) which is the official source of estimates of unemployment in the State. The primary classification used for these QNHS results is the ILO (International Labour Office) labour force classification. Those engaged in education based activation programmes may or may not be classified as unemployed; depending upon their labour force situation they are classified based on the ILO labour force definition used in the QNHS. The classification for unemployed persons includes those persons who, in the week before the survey, were without work and available for work within the next two weeks, and had taken specific steps, in the preceding four weeks, to find work.
Live Register Activation Programmes
| Back to Work Schemes | February 2015 |
|---|---|
| Back to Work allowance scheme - Employee strand1 | 2 |
| Back to Work Enterprise allowance scheme -self employed strand | 11,260 |
| Short-term Enterprise Allowance2 | 447 |
| Total Back to Work payments | 11,709 |
| Other Activation Programmes | |
| DSP Part-time Job Incentive | 397 |
| TUS - Community Work Placement Initiative (2011) | 7,877 |
| JobBridge (2011) | 6,140 |
| Total Other Activation Programmes | 14,414 |
| Community Employment Schemes (excluding Supervisors) | 23,034 |
| FAS Full Time Training for Unemployed People(3) | 7,739 |
| Back to Education Courses | |
| Vocational Training Opportunities Scheme (VTOS)4 | N/A |
| Back to Education Allowance (BTEA)5 | 23,873 |
| Total Back to Education Courses | 28,873 |
| Total Activation Programmes | 85,769 |
Source:CSO Live Register
1 This scheme was closed to new applications from 1st May 2009.
2This scheme was introduced from 1st May 2009. It provides immediate support for someone in receipt of Jobseekers Benefit who wants to start a business.
3Specific Skills Training/Local Training initiative/Traineeship/Return to Work.
4 VTOS figures are estimated at 5,000 each year
5BTEA figures include all schemes but participants from JA & JB are not entitled to BTEA during the summer holidays.
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