asked the Minister for Labour the number of placement officers at present in Dublin employment exchanges; and if he considers the number adequate.
49.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Placement and Guidance Services.
48.
asked the Minister for Labour the proportion of those on the register of unemployed who have been interviewed by placement officers.
50.
asked the Minister for Labour if he is satisfied that sufficient offers of employment are channelled through employment exchanges; and if he has plans for any measures to increase the offers of employment through these exchanges.
I propose, with your permission, a Cheann Comhairle, to take questions numbered 48, 49 and 50 together.
I am about to undertake a major reorganisation and expansion of the placement and guidance functions of the Employment Service. Over a period, these functions will, as far as practicable, be separated from the benefit-paying work of employment exchanges and will be located in new offices with specially selected and trained staff. The reorganisation work will be spread over a few years but I intend to make a start this year in some of the bigger centres of population.
I am undertaking this work because I am not satisfied with the effectiveness of placement work under the present arrangements. There are not sufficient specialist staff, including in Dublin where I appointed four placement officers as a start. I am not satisfied with the number of offers of employment channelled through the exchanges at present. I hope that the reorganisation to which I have referred will, in time, effect a considerable improvement.
Since the composition of the live register is constantly changing and since interviewing of the unemployed is a continuous process, it would not be possible to say what proportion of the register at any given date has been interviewed.
Would it not be a good suggestion that public notices be put in the press asking employers to notify the exchanges of any jobs which are available? This might be a first step. Is the Minister aware that many people on the unemployed register have never been interviewed by placement officers?
This service is on a voluntary basis at the moment. It will need to be encouraged both at employer level and at the level of people seeking employment when we have properly trained staff, properly equipped private offices removed from the discouraging circumstances prevailing up to now. Then we should be able to get better use made of the service.
The important thing is to encourage employers to notify exchanges of jobs which become available. The Minister mentioned this vaguely in the course of his reply.
I spoke of separate guidance services in separate rooms, private rooms, where trained staff will be available. This would be a wonderful encouragement to the use of the service.
Does the Minister envisage employers visiting these services?
Question No. 51. There are still 50 questions on the Order Paper.
I am entitled to a more satisfactory answer.
The Chair has allowed the Deputy three supplementaries.
They were not satisfactory answers.
That is not my fault.