Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 10 Mar 1992

Vol. 417 No. 1

Written Answers. - Employers' Recruiting Attitudes.

Mervyn Taylor

Ceist:

39 Mr. Taylor asked the Minister for Labour if he will outline the policy initiatives he proposes to take in response to the findings of the Tansey/Roche report that employers are unwilling to hire the long term unemployed; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

Minister for Labour (Mr. Cowen)

I have seen the references to employers' attitudes to recruiting long term unemployed people, as quoted in the report in question.

The conclusion drawn was based on the comments of the chief or senior executives of 15 large-scale employers. It does not follow that they would be representative of employers generally or of the owners of small and medium-sized business in particular.

As pointed out in the report the reality is that, with such an extensive labour surplus, employers may be reluctant to contemplate recruiting people who have been out of work for a long time when there is a ready supply of young and, perhaps, better educated school leavers available locally to select from.

It was against this background that a number of schemes, such as the social employment scheme, were formulated to assist the long term unemployed.

In this connection, I would also refer to the area-based response to long term unemployment, adopted under theProgramme for Economic and Social Progress. The response envisages a major contibution from employers. The integrated approach adopted under that strategy is now being implemented in 12 locations throughout the country.

Further measures to assist the long term unemployed rejoin the work force are at an advanced stage of formulation by the Task Force on Employment.