I propose to take Questions Nos. 171, 186, 187, 189 and 192 together.
In the first instance, the Government’s primary strategy to reduce long term unemployment and youth unemployment is through policies to create the environment for a strong economic recovery by promoting competitiveness and productivity. Economic recovery will underpin jobs growth. This strategy is working. Employment has risen by over 75,000 since 2012. The unemployment rate is falling and is currently at 11.1%, the lowest rate in 5 years – and is down from a peak of just over 15% in 2011.
The most recent QNHS figures for long term unemployment show that since a peak in Q1 2012 of 204,000, the numbers had fallen by 57,800 as of Q2 2014, a reduction of 28% (see Figure 1 below). The percentage of the labour force who are long-term unemployed (the long-term unemployment rate) rose from 8.2% in 2011 Q1 to 9.5% in Q1 2012 before falling over the last two years to a recent low of 6.8% in Q2 2014.
Table 1: Long Term Unemployment 2011-2014
|
-
|
2011 Q1
|
2012 Q1
|
2013 Q1
|
2014 Q1
|
2014 Q2
|
|
Numbers of LTU
|
177,000
|
204,300
|
180,500
|
156,200
|
146,500
|
|
LTU rate
|
8.2%
|
9.5%
|
8.4%
|
7.3%
|
6.8%
|
The most recent figures also show youth unemployment down by 11,400 year-on year to 52,600 in Q2 2014, equating to an unemployment rate of 27%.
In Pathways to Work 2012, a target was set for the Department of Social Protection of moving 75,000 of those who were long-term live registrants at the end of 2011 into employment by the end of 2015. Up to the end of the third quarter of 2015, over 56,000 of this group had moved into, and remain in, employment. Of this number over 18,500 moved into employment in 2012, over 20,500 moved into employment in 2013 and just under 17,000 have moved into employment so far this year. Given progress to date, the Department is on course to reach its 2015 target.
Nevertheless, despite the progress that has been made, the Government recognises that both long-term unemployment and youth unemployment remain unacceptably high. People who are long-term unemployed account for 58% of total unemployment and within the overall number who are more than 12 months unemployed the number that are two and three years unemployed is particularly worrying. It is clear that some people who became unemployed at the height of the jobs crisis in 2009 have found it particularly difficult to find employment. In this regard it is noted that nearly 100,000 (c 26%) of people on the Live Register have been unemployed for three years or more. Hence, the Government recognises the need for additional activation measures to ensure that as many as possible of the jobs created as the economy recovers are taken up long-term and young Live Registrants. This is the rationale behind the Government’s Pathways to Work strategy and the Youth Guarantee, both of which are being led by the Department of Social Protection.
The latest iteration of the Pathways to Work Strategy - Pathways to Work 2015, which was published earlier this month, includes a wide range of programmes and services to help long term unemployed jobseekers back to employment. These include programmes such as JobBridge, JobsPlus and Momentum introduced by this Government and schemes such as Community Employment and Tús, where the Department has significantly increased the number of places available. Pathways to Work 2015 also includes arrangements to increase the level of systematic engagement of the employment services with those who are out of work for long periods. There is also a specific focus on employer engagement to encourage employers to recruit from the Live Register.
In addition, the Youth Guarantee initiative is specifically aimed at those under 25 who are unemployed with specific targeting of those who are either long-term unemployed or are most at risk of becoming long-term unemployed. The implementation of the Guarantee is a medium-term policy of the Irish Government. The guarantee of an offer of training, education or work experience for those aged under 25 years after a four month period is currently being implemented on a phased basis. Processes and programmes are being progressively rolled out to ensure that all of those young unemployed people who need most support (i.e. are assessed as having a low probability of securing employment in the absence of support from the Public Employment Services) will receive a Youth Guarantee offer within four months. During 2014–2015 all long-term unemployed young people under 25 will be engaged by the Public Employment Service and will receive a Youth Guarantee offer if still unemployed after four months of this engagement process commencing.
The Department of Social Protection keeps a detailed breakdown of the profiles of jobseekers and this information is used both to inform policy developments and to support operational management of the services provide by the Department. Data on each client’s age, past occupation, and his/her education, is collected at the point of registration for job-seekers’ payments; these and other relevant data are processed and the probability of exiting the live register is calculated (PEX). This is essentially a predictor on how long a client will remain unemployed. The roll-out of the profiling system at the Department’s ‘one-stop-shop’ Intreo offices implicitly involves age profiling of the unemployed, as age is one of the main determining variables in predicting how long a client will remain unemployed. As a result, if someone is in an age category that is more likely to experience longer term unemployment, s/he will, all other things being equal, receive more targeted assistance.
Summary statistical information on the clients’ age together with other demographic and regional information is published on the Central Statistics Office website.
