Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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262. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the details of her returnships for women announced in budget 2020; the funding that has been allocated to this initiative; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42506/19]

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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Notwithstanding the very positive and consistent developments in the labour market, there is an ongoing need to target activation interventions at those who are distant from the labour market. Recent research from the Irish Government Economic and Evaluation Service found that women represented the majority of inactive working age adults, despite the fact that the number of females in the labour force has been consistently increasing over the last decade. These trends also indicate females have a higher propensity to be outside the labour market than males as they grow older. As at Q2 2018, Ireland’s female participation rate stands at 55.7% while the male rate is 68.4%.

A number of measures are being designed as pre-employment supports to target these returners and others who are distant from the labour force.  The total allocation for these measures will be €2.5m during the coming year.

I trust this clarifies the situation for the Deputy.