James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

1179. To ask the Minister for Social Protection her plans to address the unemployment blackspots in County Wexford; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34416/17]

Regina Doherty (Meath East, 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.

The Pathways to Work 2016-2020 strategy continues to prioritise actions for the newly unemployed and also includes a range of measures for the long-term unemployed. This includes the payment-by-results services of JobPath to engage more systematically with the long-term unemployed; providing targeted wage subsidies under JobsPlus; and reserved places for long-term unemployed jobseekers on employment and training programmes.

The unemployment rate in the South East is still relatively high at 9.3% (Q1 2017) as compared with the national average of 6.7%; data on the official unemployment rate are not available at the sub-regional level. In relation to ‘blackspots’ with a high concentration of unemployment, as identified in the Census, it is important to recognise that DSP services through Intreo are focused on unemployed individuals rather than on areas. This means, nonetheless, that those areas where unemployed individuals are most concentrated will also be the areas that receive a greater share of DSP income support payments and activation and employment services.

The Action Plan for Jobs 2017 includes actions aimed at stimulating regional growth, including the progression, monitoring and support of the eight Regional Action Plans for Jobs, which through public and private sector collaboration seek to build on existing strengths and assets and identify opportunities within each region, and realise the national Action Plan’s regional employment targets.

The South East Action Plan for Jobs is the key policy response for supporting employment growth in the South East region.

The Key Targets for the SE RAPJ are as follows:

- Increase employment in the region by 10%-15% over the period to 2020. This will see the creation of 25,000 new jobs in the region.

- Increase the number of IDA investments in the region by 30-40% up to 2019. This will result in a minimum of 44 additional projects for the region by 2019.

- Achieve an increase of at least 25% in the number of start-ups in the region, and a 25% improvement in the survival rate of new businesses.

- Increase jobs in export-led sectors by 20% across the region by 2020.

- Increase the value of agri-food exports by 85% by 2025.

- Develop the South East as a key destination as part of Ireland’s Ancient East experiences, to achieve a target to grow overseas tourism numbers by an extra 300,000 with 5,000 associated jobs being created.

- Establishing a new Regional Skills Forum to ensure closer collaboration between employers and the education system in identifying and meeting the skills needs of the region and promoting the range of roles and career paths available in the region.

- Developing Smart Specialisms as new sources of growth in the South East, in particular where the region has both a research base and an enterprise base that can exploit emerging technologies from that research.

Progress Reports on the SE RAPJ are being published twice yearly.

- The first progress report for the South East Region was published last December and the second Report was published on 26 June. Both reports show that good progress is being made in the implementation of the Action Plan.

- As a result of a focused collaborative approach and a range of reforms delivered in the region over recent years, the unemployment rate in the South East has fallen from 12.8% in 2015 to 9.3% by Q1 2017.

- 12,400 jobs were created in the South East from the start of 2015 to Q1 2017.

I am confident that the range of measures outlined, and continuing economic recovery, will support further reductions in unemployment both nationally, regionally, and in the blackspot areas.