Vol. 489 No. 2
58 Mr. Bell asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if she will consider a national programme of job rotation whereby long-term unemployed people fill in for workers undergoing lengthy training. [7693/98]
As I understand it job rotation is a labour market reintegration programme practised in a systematic way mainly in Denmark. Even there I understand it is being wound down somewhat on both cost grounds and because it was leading to skills shortages in certain areas. This Government similarly attaches a very high priority to the re-integration of the long-term unemployed into the labour market as can be clearly seen from the most recent budget where we increased the number of places on active labour market programmes by 7,000 and enhanced the existing range of in-work benefits.
In the next few weeks, we expect to complete our national employment action plan drawn up under the EU employment guidelines in which we make a commitment to further measures to assist the reintegration into work of persons who have been long-term unemployed. Notable among these commitments are greater access by long-term unemployed persons to mainstream training and a considerably enhanced and more proactive placement service.
Deputies will be aware that a form of job rotation exists in the public sector where career breaks and job sharing allow a greater participation in the labour force than might otherwise be the case. The implementation of similar measures in the private sector is, I believe, a desirable goal, but one which must be pursued by agreement at company level.
Of course there is no guarantee that such vacancies could be taken up by the long-term unemployed. I understand that interdepartmental discussions in the recent past on the feasibility of this kind of targeting did not come up with any conclusions as to how this might be achieved.
I believe the budget measures and the employment action plan commitments I referred to offer the best mix of programmes and options for the Irish situation but obviously in refining our policies over the five year lifetime of the guidelines we will have regard to successful interventions in other member states.
