Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 22 November 2012
17. Deputy Dessie Ellis asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the initiatives that his Department is taking to address the structural nature of long term unemployment through job creation. [51896/12]
View answerThere are two major elements to the Government’s response to unemployment – Pathways to Work and the Action Plan for Jobs. The aim of the Action Plan for Jobs is to create a supportive environment for enterprise to create and sustain new jobs, while the aim of Pathways to Work is ensure that as many of those jobs as possible go to people who are currently on the Live Register, particularly those who are Long Term Unemployed.
The Action Plan for Jobs contains over 270 individual actions to be delivered in 2012, spanning all Government Departments and 36 State agencies. The third Progress Report on the Action Plan was published on 17th October 2012. It shows that 218 (96%) of the 227 milestones to be achieved in the first three Quarters of 2012 had been delivered.
The full impact of the measures being taken under the Action Plan for Jobs will become apparent over time, but we are already seeing encouraging progress. For example, so far this year, the IDA has announced investments with the potential to create more than 8,500 further jobs as these projects come on stream. In the first eight months of this year, a total of 4,669 job commitments over the next three years, linked to Enterprise Ireland approvals to client companies, were secured.
Employment in the Tourism sector increased by 6,300 over the period June 2011 to June 2012. There were also modest increases in Agri-food and ICT, while the number of people employed in Digital Games has also doubled since 2009. These are sectors specifically targeted for support under the Action Plan for Jobs.
The labour market activation measures outlined in Pathways to Work include over 85,000 job placement and work experience places to be delivered this year by the Department of Social Protection, and over 450,000 training and education places to be delivered by the Department of Education and Skills.
Pathways to Work has an objective of ensuring that at least 75,000 of those currently long-term unemployed will move into employment by 2015. It also aims to reduce the average time spent on the Live Register from 21 months, to less than 12 months by the end of 2015.
The Department of Social Protection recently launched a new employment and support service – Intreo. This will provide individualised supports to jobseekers to assist them in getting back to work and increasing their employability.
In addition, there is a range of other measures available to those who are on the Live Register and seeking to start their own business, such as supports from the County and City Enterprise Boards, the Back to Work Enterprise Allowance and the new Micro Finance Fund. There are also financial supports available to employers who recruit a person who is long term unemployed, including Revenue’s “Job Assist” scheme and the Employer’s PRSI Exemption scheme operated by the Department of Social Protection. The Government has been actively promoting these schemes to employers in recent months, with the support of business representative bodies.
We will continue to do all we can to facilitate the return to work of those who have lost their jobs. I am currently preparing the 2013 Action Plan for Jobs on behalf of the Government and in that context, will be exploring further measures which can be taken to transform our economy and support job creation.
