Written answers
Thursday, 2 February 2017
Department of Social Protection
Unemployment Levels
Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source
159. To ask the Minister for Social Protection his targets to reduce long-term unemployment in terms of specific numbers and percentages in each of the years to 2020; the measures that will be taken to achieve this; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5203/17]
Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source
Government policy to reduce unemployment is twofold. First, through policies set out in the Action Plan for Jobs, to create an environment in which business can succeed and create jobs; and second, through Pathways to Work to ensure that as many of these new jobs and other vacancies that arise in our economy are filled by people taken from the Live Register, and in particular the long-term unemployed.
Reflecting the impact of government policy, and the overall improvement in the labour market, long term unemployment continues to fall. The most recent data show that unemployment has fallen from a peak of 15% in 2012 to 7.1% in January 2017. The long-term unemployment rate peaked at 9.5% in Q1 2012 before falling to 4.2% in Q3 2016. At the latter date, the long-term unemployed accounted for 52% of all those unemployed, down from almost 65% in early 2012. The number of long term unemployed in Q3 2016 was 92,300; this compares to 204,300 in early 2012. Long-term unemployment fell by 18% during 2016, faster than the overall fall in unemployment of 13%.
Looking forward, in the context of Pathways to Work 2016-2020, one of the high-level targets adopted by the Government is to decrease long-term unemployment to 2.5% by 2020. Targets were not set for intermediate years. However, it seems clear based on the most recent developments in the labour market that the target for 2020 is now likely to be achieved or indeed improved on.
A set of milestones and metrics have been developed as indicators of progress in addressing the challenges and delivering on Pathways to Work 2016-2020. Progress on milestones and metrics are published on the Department of Social Protection website and the metrics themselves will be reviewed and updated on an annual basis to reflect the key challenges and issues being addressed under this strategy each year. The relevant data for 2016 targets and outcomes are set out in Table 1. Many of these will directly or indirectly impact upon the reduction of long-term unemployment over the period of the strategy to 2020.
Table 1: Pathways To Work Measures/Metrics and 2016 Targets
| Measure/Metric | 2016 Target Performance | 2016 Performance (Actual) |
|---|---|---|
| Move 50,000 long term unemployed at the start of 2016 into employment by the end of 2020 | 20,000 | 26,000 |
| Reduce the persistence rate (the rate at which short term unemployed people become long term unemployed) by 25% from 27% to 20% by the end of 2018 | 24% | N/A |
| Increase the exit rate of people on the Live Register for two years or more by 30% (to 52%) by the end of 2018 | 44% | N/A |
| Fully implement the JobPath programme and refer at least 60,000 long term unemployed people to JobPath in 2016 | 60,000 referrals to JobPath | 70,000 referrals |
| Double the number of employers signed up to the Employment and Youth Activation Charter | 300 new employers | 400 |
| Reduce the ratio between youth and overall unemployment from 2.2:1 to less than 2:1 by the end of 2017 (EU average = 2.2:1) | 2.1:1 | N/A |
| Increase the engagement frequency for one-to-one meetings for Low PEX and LTU clients from 6 meetings per year to 12 meetings per year | 12 | 12 |
| Target an aggregate progression to employment rate across activation programmes of 40% (measured 6 months after completion of programme) | 40% | N/A |
I have set out new objectives for 2017 to build on this progress:
- Help another 20,000 people move from welfare into work;
- Develop a Working Family Payment to make work more attractive for families currently on welfare;
- Implement an Action Plan for Jobless Families to zero in on long-term unemployment;
- Launch a new work experience programme to replace the JobBridge scheme that was closed in 2016;
- Recalibrate labour activation schemes like CE and TÚS to focus on those farthest from the labour market;
- Intensify our engagement with employers and boost the take up of JobsPlus, and the Wage Subsidy Scheme for employees with disabilities;
- Promote and make access to the Back to Work Enterprise Allowance easier;
- Work with other Government Departments to overcome the barriers to work including the cost of childcare, transport, education and housing;
- Increase the number of employers participating in the Department’s long-term unemployment and youth activation charter to over 600.
The Pathways to Work 2016-2020strategy continues to prioritise support for the long-term unemployed. This includes the roll-out of the payment-by-results services of JobPath to engage more systematically with the long-term unemployed, including long-term unemployed youth; providing targeted wage subsidies under JobsPlus; and through reserved places for long-term unemployed jobseekers on employment and training programmes.
I am confident these measures, and continuing economic recovery, will support further reductions in long-term unemployment, and add to the substantial improvements that have already been seen over the last few years.
No comments