Vol. 476 No. 1
22 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Enterprise and Employment if his attention has been drawn to opportunities afforded by buoyancy in the Irish economy to introduce radical changes in employment practices, such as widespread work sharing and a guaranteed basic income scheme which would replace dole and tax free allowances and which would allow unemployed people to work to supplement their guaranteed basic income. [6218/97]
I welcome the buoyancy of the Irish economy under this Government which has led to an unprecedented rate of employment growth and a continuing fall in unemployment.
As the Deputy knows, last year I published a comprehensive strategy paper on the labour market, Growing and Sharing our Employment, which set out the three main aims of labour market policy: high levels of job creation; maintaining incentives to work; and improving access to jobs for those at a labour market disadvantage.
Among other things the paper set out a number of strategies to improve employment growth and an affirmative action strategy for improved access to jobs.
The broad task of these strategies is to improve the efficiency and enhance the equity of the operation of the labour market. The Government has, over the last two budgets in particular, adopted a range of measures to facilitate the transition from unemployment to employment, including retention for a period of secondary benefits and medical cards, a reduced tax burden on lower income groups, significant improvements in the family income supplement, additional places on the back-to-work allowance scheme and new aids to recruitment such as Jobstart and Workplace.
I am happy to inform the Deputy that the Minister of State with responsibility for labour affairs in my Department recently announced a package of proposals ranging from flexible working hours to career breaks, aimed at facilitating greater work sharing arrangements in the public service. These are now to be the subject of discussion between public service unions and individual Departments. These represent a very useful contribution towards a more flexible working environment, facilitation of atypical working patterns and the prospect of a greater sharing of available jobs.
While the strategy paper on the labour market concluded that basic income was not currently a viable option, I advise the Deputy that the recently negotiated Partnership 2000 agreement includes an agreement that a further independent appraisal of the concept and its implications will be undertaken. This will build on the work already done in this area such as that of the expert group on the integration of tax and social welfare, the ESRI and CORI, together with international research. It is envisaged that a broadly-based steering group will oversee the study.
