asked the Minister for Labour the reason the long-term unemployed, of which there are 100,000, are not benefiting from the increase in job creation.
Written Answers. - Long-Term Unemployed.
31.
I would not agree with the contention in the Deputy's question that the long-term unemployed are not benefiting at all from increased job creation. The impact of enhanced employment prospects on the long-term unemployed, however, is less than on other categories on the labour market. This situation is a central preoccupation of employment policy and adjustments have been made which aim to facilitate and encourage employers to recruit from those without work for in excess of one year.
The most recent figure for long-term unemployment relates to April of this year. At that stage, there were 104,500 people on the live register for over a year. This was a reduction of 6,500 on the number of long-term unemployed in April 1987.
Over the two year period, male long-term unemployed fell by 8,000. There was a slight rise in long-term unemployed among women, due in part to changes in the regulations affecting women's entitlement to unemployment payments.
Frequently the problems which the long-term unemployed face in efforts to re-enter employment are more intractable than apply to others. Skill and educational deficiencies, motivation and opportunity awareness considerations can reinforce difficulties in getting access to available employment openings.
An aspect which causes me considerable concern, is the attitude of some employers to recruiting those out of work for more than one year. While employers clearly have the right to recruit those whom they consider to be the most suitable for the jobs on offer, a bias against the long-term job seeker is often a silent feature of recruitment policies.
Policy measures have been put in place to rectify these deficiencies. Special training provision is available to this category of worker and incentives to employers to recruit the long-term unemployed, have been provided. In addition, there is the social employment scheme where the recruitment targets have been revised upwards by 1,000 over the next 12 months. Increased Structural Funds provision in the period immediately ahead should also have a positive impact on the employment opportunities available to this grouping.
I am hopeful that these interventions, some of which have been very recently introduced, will result in more employment opportunities for this section of the unemployed. I fully share the Deputy's concern at the gravity of this problem and I will continue to keep the situation under review.
Finally, I would like to say that I intend to make the problem of the long-term unemployed the major item on the agenda of the Irish Presidency of the EC in the Social Affairs area.