Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 September 2023
374. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Social Protection the assistance that is available in the form of financial supports or grants for women who wish to return to the workforce, having been out of the workforce for a prolonged period of time to rear their young children; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41250/23]
View answerThe labour market recovery since the lifting of pandemic restrictions has seen employment levels rise to their highest on record in recent months. Latest CSO figures show 2.64 million people in employment in the second quarter of this year. The number of females in the labour force increased by 4.8% (+60,600) in the year to Q2, 2023 (compared to a 2.0% increase in the number of males). The latest CSO figures for Q2, 2023 show the highest female participation rates since records began, at 61%.
Pathways to Work, the national employment services strategy launched during the pandemic in July 2021. The strategy aimed to decrease employment brought about by the pandemic, and to support those distant from the labour market, including “returners” to the workforce and lone parents. Specifically, the strategy seeks to increase the lone parent employment rate from 63% to the EU average of 74%. My Department administers a number of schemes which encourage women’s participation in and return to the workforce, including several supports targeted at parents.
• The Back to Work Family Dividend scheme aims to help families move from social welfare into employment. It gives financial support to people with qualified children who are in or take up employment or self-employment and as a result stop claiming a jobseeker's payment or a one-parent family payment. Where a person qualifies, they receive a weekly payment for up to two years. In the first year, this will be paid at the equivalent of any Increases for Qualified Children that were payable on their Jobseeker’s or One-Parent Family Payment (up to a maximum of 4 children). Half that amount is paid weekly for the second year. In this regard, the currently weekly qualified child rate for a child under the age of 12 is €42 per week and €50 for a child aged 12 and over. At the end of 2022, some 2,029 recipients of the scheme were women (75%).
• The Training Support Grant provides quick access to short-term training to support jobseekers access to work opportunities. The grant is used to meet a skills gap or training need where this cannot be provided by a state provider within a reasonable time, and in cases where an intervention is needed to access a work opportunity. The intervention identified is linked to both the activation needs of the jobseeker and labour market conditions. Applications for the grant are made to an Employment Personal Adviser at the local Intreo office and are considered as part of the person’s Personal Progression Plan. In the year to end August, there have been some 4,300 grants completed. 21% of the completed grants have been for women applicants.
• The Work Placement Experience Programme (WPEP) is a funded work placement scheme to provide work experience for jobseekers who have been unemployed for more than six months. The scheme aims to keep jobseekers close to the labour market and prevent scarring effects of long-term unemployment. The WPEP is also available to people who are on a One Parent Family Payment, Jobseekers Transition Payment or Disability Allowance. To date, of the 813 placements approved, 427 (52.5%) are female.
• The JobsPlus incentive is designed to encourage employers and businesses to focus their recruitment efforts on those who have been out of work for long periods. It provides a direct monthly financial incentive to employers over two years, with two levels of grant payable - €7,500 or €10,000 provided that the employment is maintained. 32% of this scheme’s 1,196 participants are women.
In addition, the Employer Relations Division of my Department delivers recruitment events, career fairs and information events which promote jobseeker supports to those returning to the labour market. These events include larger campaigns such as the Intreo Work and Skills campaigns, which target those who are unemployed, under-employed and inactive having been out of the workforce for a longer period of time. The division also delivers employer roadshows over the year in collaboration with the local Education and Training Boards (ETBs) and Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs). These roadshows highlight the range of supports and services available to employers including presentations on benefits of hiring returners to the workforce.
The Return-to-Work campaign which ran from 26th September to 7th October 2022, hosted 25 in-person events across the country with an overall attendance of 5,322 jobseekers and 98 employers. Another Work and Skills campaign is due to take place in October 2023 when recruitment and training fairs will take place nationwide.
