Vol. 507 No. 1
7 Mr. Broughan asked the Minister for Finance the number of people participating in the job assist programme; the number of people who have returned to unemployment after a period on the programme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14595/99]
As stated in reply to a similar question last month, the Revenue job assist scheme was introduced in April last year to complement the wide range of schemes available to assist the long-term unemployed back into employment. The scheme is a focused two part initiative that gives the long-term unemployed an incentive to take up employment and gives potential employers an incentive to employ a long-term unemployed person as opposed to someone else in the labour market. The scheme has been extended to cater for certain persons with disabilities since the start of the year.
According to statistics produced by the Revenue Commissioners for the 1998-99 year of assessment, covering the 12 month period from 6 April 1998 to 5 April 1999, a total of 1,112 cases had been issued a tax free allowance which included the job assist allowance in that period. Of the 1,112 cases, a total of 132 cases were no longer in employment at the end of that year of assessment. This represents a drop-out rate of nearly 12 per cent. While I would prefer if all the people who had benefited from the scheme had remained in full-time employment, the fact that more than 88 per cent were still employed at the end of the first year of operation of the scheme is most encouraging. In the first four weeks of the current tax year an additional 344 cases have availed of the scheme. Further details of these cases will be available shortly from the Revenue Commissioners.
I am satisfied that the Revenue job assist scheme is working satisfactorily in terms of dealing with the difficulties faced by the persons who are long-term unemployed from another angle and in terms of complementing the wide range of back-to-work incentives available to this category of persons. The scheme has met a clear need since its introduction last year and its operation will continue to be closely monitored.
As the Minister indicated, a similar question was submitted last month. I do not know how it was resubmitted. It was not resubmitted by me.
I think it was resubmitted by Deputy Richard Bruton.
As the Minister will be aware, the ESRI in its ex ante report on the national development plan recommends that the amount of State money spent on labour market interventions should be scaled back. What are the Minister's reflections on that general proposal?
The ESRI report contains many other interesting ideas which have been around for a long time, such as the abolition of mortgage interest relief. Successive Administrations decided not to go down that road. There is nothing new, therefore, about some of the policy options put forward in the study. The ESRI also made the case that we should row back on the assistance given via the IDA in attracting industry; that there is less need for this. All these matters will be considered by the Government in preparing the national development plan. As the labour market has tightened, there is an overwhelming case that one should not intervene at the same level as in the past. This is obvious in a wide range of areas.
On the job assist scheme, will the Minister provide a breakdown of the uptake as between male and female and the age levels involved? If the scheme is operating to his satisfaction, will he consider extending it in the next budget?
I do not have all the information sought by the Deputy. Of the 1,112 cases mentioned, 409 were married; 686 were single and 17 were widowed. A total of 289 of the 409 listed as married had children as had 153 of the 686 listed as single and nine of the 17 listed as widowed. So far as I am aware, the Revenue Commissioners do not maintain an age profile. An additional 344 cases have availed of the scheme in the first four weeks of the current tax year. Of these, 131 are married, 212 are single and one is widowed. If the additional information sought by the Deputy is available, I will send it to him.
