Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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518. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the schemes and supports that are available from her Department to help persons to return to work; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34867/22]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Irish labour market has experienced a robust recovery, post-Covid. According to the latest estimates from the CSO’s Labour Force Survey (Q1, 2022), the number of people in employment is now above 2.5 million, the highest level in the history of the State, while participation rates in the economy continue to be above where they stood pre-pandemic, driven primarily by the increase in female participation. Furthermore, the unemployment rate for June stood at 4.8 percent, around pre-pandemic levels. 

Despite the significant improvement in the labour market, I am conscious that there are some people trying to regain their footing post-Covid and, as such, my Department continues to provide a range of supports for jobseekers.

My Department, which delivers public employment services (PES) through Intreo and its contracted partners, offers a range of employment supports to help people prepare for and secure employment.  The key service provided is one-on-one engagements where a range of different options are explored, and a personal progression plan is agreed.  These plans can include referrals to employment opportunities, training, work placement, education, or support with self-employment or participation in state employment schemes such as CE and Tús.  In the last year, the caseload capacity of the PES is being expanded to provided additional capacity to help and support jobseekers.

My Department offers work placement schemes such as the Workplace Experience Programme (WPEP), which can help break the cycle of ‘no work, no experience’ and ‘no experience, no work’ that often puts people at risk of long-term unemployment.

Another part of our toolkit is providing recruitment subsidies such as JobsPlus, which offers a financial incentive of up to €10,000 to employers who hire somebody who is long-term unemployed or who are older workers, lone parents and refugees.

As part of Budget 2022 and Pathways to Work 2021-2025, the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science provided for an additional 50,000 further education and training places to help more people to have the opportunity to upskill for employment into a new sector. 

State employment schemes such as Community Employment and Tús, play a crucial role in providing local services around the country and I have recently improved some of the conditions on these schemes to make them more accessible to jobseekers.  My Department also supports jobseekers wishing to become self-employed through the Back to Work Enterprise Allowance.

These range of schemes and supports are vital to ensuring that jobseekers are given the best possible opportunity to find and sustain employment.