Noel Grealish (Galway West, Independent)
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230. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the reasons the number of women aged 25 and over on the live register is decreasing at a much slower rate than any other section of the population; the steps which have already been taken; his plans to improve the situation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40626/16]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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During the recession, unemployment rose much more rapidly for men and for young people than it did for women aged over 25. The peak unemployment rate during the recession was 9.9% for women aged over 25; 16.1% for men aged over 25; 25.0% for women aged under 25; and 37.5% for men aged under 25.

Inevitably, the recovery has seen the greatest falls in unemployment in those groups that were hardest hit in the recession. Despite this, unemployment remains lower among women aged over 25 than in other groups. The most recent available unemployment rate (November 2016) is 5.4% for women aged over 25; 7.4% for men aged over 25; 13.1% for women aged under 25; and 17.6% for men aged under 25.

In general, trends in the number of people on the Live Register in any given gender/age group depend on a number of other factors in addition to the unemployment rate. These include: movements in the size of the population in the group; movements in labour-force participation in the group; and the extent to which unemployed people in the group are receiving jobseekers payments rather than other welfare payments. In recent years, these factors have tended to increase the number of women aged over 25 on the Live Register relative to other groups, even as the underlying unemployment rate for such women has remained relatively low.

Government policy allocates activation resources to persons on the Live Register, and thus takes account of relative movements in the number of people on the Live Register in various age/gender groups.