Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 28 April 2021
646. Deputy Emer Higgins asked the Minister for Social Protection the support and incentives available to part-time employees currently receiving the pandemic unemployment payment who are transitioning back into the workforce; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21444/21]
View answerThe onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic and resulting public health measures, has greatly impacted economic activity in the State and the labour market. The latest CSO data for March 2021, recorded a COVID-19 adjusted overall unemployment rate of 24.2 percent, with an equivalent measure for youth at 59.2 percent.
Research conducted by my Department last year suggests that part-time workers may have been particularly impacted in the case of the COVID-19 pandemic, given their tendency to work in some of the sectors most severely impacted by the pandemic; namely accommodation and food, and retail.
While many have been displaced from their employment by the pandemic, most of those currently in receipt of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) will return to employment as restrictions ease and the economy re-opens. However, it is inevitable that some jobs will be permanently lost, and additional numbers of persons will require State support to find new jobs transitioning back to work.
I am acutely aware that when people lose their jobs and remain unemployed for some time they can become disconnected from the labour market. These individuals risk losing the vital social and work connections that are needed to identify and pursue work opportunities and for many it may be the case that their existing work experience and skills cannot easily translate into new sectors of employment. This can particularly be the case for part-time employees.
Therefore, my Department is supporting initiatives to assist people, including part-time workers, get back to work, once COVID-19 restrictions and their impact on the economy and labour market begin to ease.
Under the July Jobs Stimulus, my Department, along with the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, are putting in place the following measures:
- Expanding the benefit of the JobsPlus recruitment subsidy to employers who hire young people. Under this scheme an employer receives the JobsPlus subsidy of €7,500 once they employ a young person (under 30 years of age) who has been unemployed for just 4 months. A higher subsidy of €10,000 is paid for recruitment of a person who was long term unemployed (over 12 months). Time spent in receipt of the Pandemic Unemployment Payment can be counted for the purposes of eligibility for all unemployed individuals.
- nFacilitating access to the Back to Education Allowance (BTEA) and Back to Work Enterprise Allowance (BTWEA) to those displaced by the pandemic and in receipt of PUP, by waiving the usual qualifying period of 3-9 months.
- Providing access to additional full-time and part-time education, including targeted short-term courses, with over 35,000 new education and training places for those currently unemployed.
- Providing incentives to employers to take on more apprentices, with the provision of a grant of €3,000 to employers for each new apprentice recruited.
- Increasing the funding available to all PUP recipients through the Training Support Grant from €500 to €1,000. The grant is designed to support quick access to short-term training where the training is not delivered by a State provider.
My Department is at an advanced stage in developing a new Work Placement Experience Programme for those out of work for at least six months, regardless of age. This programme will seek to encourage businesses to provide jobseekers, including part-time workers, with the necessary workplace skills to compete in the labour market and to help break the vicious circle of “no job without experience, no experience without a job”. I expect to launch the Programme as soon as public health restrictions allow in 2021.
Those in self-employment, looking to reopen their business, may have other income support options available to them from my Department depending on their circumstances. A self-employed person can retain their PUP where their income from self-employment does not exceed €960 over a rolling 8-week period and they continue to meet the scheme conditions.
Where a person exceeds this threshold and is engaging in regular limited self-employment, access to the Part-Time Job Incentive (PTJI) has been extended to those who transition from the PUP. Under this scheme, a self-employed recipient can engage in self-employment for up to 24 hours per week and retain a personal weekly rate of payment of €128.60. A self-employed jobseeker with a qualified adult can be paid €209.70 per week. Moreover, there is no earnings limit to receive the payment.
These efforts designed to support those displaced by COVID-19, including part-time workers, will be further bolstered by Pathways to Work 2021-2025, which is currently being finalised by my Department. Pathways to Work is the Government’s national employment services strategy. It will set out how an expanded Public Employment Service will utilise its existing and expanded capacity to deliver effective services in a post-COVID labour market. Publication is expected in the coming months, following the launch of the Government's Economic Recovery Plan.
I trust this clarifies matters for the Deputy.
