Written answers

Friday, 16 December 2016

Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation

Employment Support Services

Photo of Niall CollinsNiall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

534. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the status of the programme for Government commitment to assist 50,000 long-term unemployed persons into jobs. [40841/16]

Photo of Mary Mitchell O'ConnorMary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

My priority is to deliver on the Government’s goal to help create 200,000 additional jobs by 2020, including 135,000 jobs outside Dublin. The Government’s primary strategy to tackle long-term unemployment is to create the environment for a strong economic recovery through effective policies. In doing so it is hoped to promote competitiveness and productivity. I am working closely with the Minister for Social Protection to ensure we can provide every opportunity for those unemployed to secure a job.

Reflecting the impact of government policy, and the overall improvement in the labour market, long term unemployment continues to fall. The long-term unemployment rate peaked at 9.5% in Q1 2012 before falling to 4.4% in Q2 2016. At the latter date, the long-term unemployed accounted for 51.1% of all those unemployed, down from almost 65% in early 2012. The number of long term unemployed in Q2 2016 was 95,900; this compares to 204,300 in Q1 2012. Under the Programme for Government commitment to move 50,000 long-term unemployed at the start of 2016 into employment by the end of 2020, annual targets have been set. Indications are that the 2016 target will be exceeded by year end.

A range of measures were introduced under previous Pathways to Work strategies for long-term unemployed people. This included a structured process of engagement with long-term unemployed people being referred to the activation process (Group Engagement followed by regular one-to-one case officer contact); wage subsidies in JobsPlus; the roll-out of a payment-by-results contracted employment services in JobPath, to provide additional capacity in order to engage more systematically with long-term unemployed jobseekers; and reserved places for long-term unemployed jobseekers on a range of Further Education and Training (FET) and public employment programmes.

A core focus of Pathways to Work 2016-2020 is on consolidating and improving the quality and consistency of reforms undertaken in previous strategies, with continued prioritisation of those long-term unemployed.

Comments

No comments

Log in or join to post a public comment.