No work for jobseekers in County Donegal - Pringle

In County Donegal jobseekers looking for work in the local economy have seen little job creation overall since the crash and a lack of rural broadband or infrastructure upgrades to the road and transport network, while other anti-rural policies pushed by the Government have stifled job creation, Independent Deputy Thomas Pringle told the Dáil.

Speaking during a debate on a motion of No Confidence in the Tánaiste Joan Burton, he said the quality of the majority of these new jobs is questionable and many people, including seasonal workers, find themselves in "if and when" and zero-hour contract jobs.

“As a result, they are relying on the social welfare income supports which the Tánaiste has persistently cut since coming into government,” he said. “Furthermore, she has ruled out any commitment to restore Jobseeker Payments for those aged under 26 and has failed on the promise of a youth guarantee, leaving over 2,000 young people still unemployed in County Donegal, an unacceptably high number after five years in government.”

Deputy Pringle said he recently received parliamentary question replies in regard to JobPath, a programme which is furthering the privatisation of social protection and off-loading the long-term unemployed to private sector companies. “Some 3,000 people are currently under their watch and very little is known as to the mechanics of this outsourcing. The "pay by results" contracts at the centre of the private companies' pact with the Department of Social Protection is a model known to push claimants into low pay, low quality and temporary employment,” he said. “This cycle is already happening to people on part-time, low hours or seasonal work, but many more people who are long-term unemployed could end up moving between poor quality employment and social welfare.”

The inclusion of private sector companies to carry out State services is a reflection of the incompetence of the Department and its Minister in dealing with the long-term unemployed, said Deputy Pringle. “There are not even sufficient monitoring regimes in place, which I know because the Tánaiste could not even answer a question as to the costs awarded to private companies which are coming from the State's pockets because she deemed them commercially sensitive - "commercially sensitive" appears to mean the use of public money.”

The motion was defeated by 82 votes to 32.