Liam Quaide (Cork East, Social Democrats)
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119. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if he will outline his plans to introduce targeted employment supports to groups facing additional challenges accessing work, such as disabilities, lone parents and minority groups including travellers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21567/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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The Irish labour market continues to perform well. According to data made available by the CSO, unemployment remains low, and has been consistently below 5 per cent since January 2022. This is the conventional definition of full employment standing at 4 per cent in March. Additionally, the quarterly Labour Force Survey records a long-term unemployment rate of 1 percent cent as of Q4, 2024 which is among the lowest recorded since the series began in 1998.

The Government’s national employment services strategy, Pathways to Work 2021-2025, commits to unlocking the potential of all individuals who want to work, ensuring that nobody is left behind. Under this framework, my Department oversees a range of targeted employment and in-work supports to help those distant from the labour market prepare for, secure, and maintain employment, such as:

• Making the higher rate of the JobsPlus recruitment subsidy available to employers who hire a member of the Traveller or Roma community in receipt of a qualifying payment.
• Providing increased funding for training on Traveller and Roma-specific Community Employment programmes, offering support from an Employment Personal Advisor while on the programme, the extension of the duration of participation where considered appropriate, and an extension of the number of hours (outside of CE placement hours) that a participant is permitted to work for an employer who is also the CE Sponsor.
• Delivering an early engagement process for people with disabilities to help them achieve their employment ambitions and to reduce the unemployment rate for people with a disability. This process is entirely voluntary and is being implemented in line with principles agreed with stakeholders. Since the national roll-out of early engagement in mid-2022, Designated Disability Employment Personal Advisors have reached out to approximately 27,000 people in receipt of Disability Allowance. Of those, over 3,000 referrals were made to job vacancies, further education or training, a specialist service such as Employability or to suitable employment schemes such as Community Employment and the Work Placement Experience Programme.
• Making the wage subsidy scheme available to employers who hire a person with a disability, and supporting disability-inclusive workplaces through the Work and Access Scheme.
• Promoting the Employment and Youth Engagement Charter to employers to encourage take up of employer incentives and to support the recruitment of jobseekers from priority groups including people with disabilities, lone parents and members of the Traveller and Roma communities. The Charter aims to sign up 300 employers by end 2025 to benefit 1,000 jobseekers from priority groups. As of April 2025, 233 employers have signed the Charter.