Peadar Tóibín
Ceist:23. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the measures he plans to pursue to address the high rate of underemployment here. [5848/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraThursday, 12 February 2015
Ceisteanna (23)
Freagraí scríofa
The Action Plan for Jobs since 2012 has set a comprehensive set of measures agreed by Government to promote job opportunities and employment growth in all parts of the country. The 2015 Action Plan for Jobs was launched on January 29th.
The Action Plan process is working. Almost 80,000 more people are at work since the launch of the first Action Plan for Jobs in 2012. This increase has not been in “precarious” or temporary jobs. While the proportion of Irish workers who are on temporary contracts rose slightly during the recession, reaching 10.5% in 2011, it has since fallen back to the pre-recession level of 9.5%, and remains significantly below the EU average of 14.4%. The CSO data for January 2015 indicates that the share of casual and part-time workers on the Live Register was down -11.0% on January 2014, equivalent to 8,873 workers. The cumulative decrease is 15,839 workers since January 2013.
Indigenous exports and foreign direct investment are at all-time record levels. Our competitiveness ranking internationally has climbed to 15th. The rate of unemployment has declined from a peak of 15.1 per cent at the start of 2012 to below 10.6 per cent at end 2014. In 2014, client companies of Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland created 8,476 and 7,131 net new jobs respectively; this represents the highest levels of net new job creation by agency client companies in over a decade and most of this employment growth was in full-time employment.
The Action Plan for Jobs 2015 will be a further step along the way in meeting this medium-term goal for Ireland. The themes in this year’s Action Plan for Jobs build on the reforms of previous years in the areas of competitiveness, innovation and entrepreneurship and in fostering new sources of growth for the economy.
The 2015 Action Plan contains a suite of 380 actions to ensure we deliver the promised 100,000 additional jobs by 2016, with the target to create 40,000 jobs this year. Specifically, in 2015, Enterprise Ireland will target the creation of 13,000 gross new full-time jobs in indigenous firms. IDA Ireland will target the creation of 14,000 gross new jobs in multinationals. It is estimated that every direct job created in agency assisted firms indirectly supports another job in the wider economy thereby making a strong contribution to the overall target of getting to full employment in 2018.
Existing legislation states that part-time employees may not be treated in a less favourable manner than a comparable full-time employee unless there are objective reasons for such treatment, provides specific protection for employees on zero hours contracts, and provides rights regarding equality of treatment to temporary agency workers, many of whom may be part-time workers.
The vast majority of jobs created in tandem with the APJ process have been full-time and well paid. Nevertheless we are anxious to better understand instances where this is not the case. In this regard, the Action Plan for Jobs for 2015 firstly sets commitments to establish the Low Pay Commission, which is to undertake analysis and make a recommendation on the appropriate level of the national minimum wage.
Secondly, under the APJ, my Department has commissioned the University of Limerick a study on the prevalence of zero hour contracts and low hour contracts (contracts of 8 hours or less per week (LHC) among Irish employers and their impact on employees, and make policy recommendations to Government. The team from the Department of Personnel and Employment Relations in the Kemmy School of Business in UL is expected to report back within six months with its findings and also recommendations for policy change, should they be warranted.
All sectors of the economy are expected to come within the scope of the study; however, a particular focus will be on the retail, hospitality, education and health sectors. The study is expected to cover both the public and private sectors.