Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 28 March 2017
230. Deputy Tony McLoughlin asked the Minister for Social Protection the extent to which he continues to monitor the age profile of those on the live register long term with a view to initiating measures to address the issue throughout the country and particularly in counties Sligo and Leitrim; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14975/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe official measure of unemployment is sourced from the Quarterly National Household Survey (QNHS). Measures of unemployment from the QNHS are based on International Labour Office (ILO) definitions. To be ‘ILO unemployed’ a person must in the week before the survey be without work but available for work and have recently taken specific job-search steps. The Live Register, which captures those registering for unemployment benefits, (including those working part-time and in casual work who draw partial unemployment payments), is an administrative record. It is not the official measure of unemployment, but can give indicative trends. My Department uses both Live Register and QNHS data for reporting and monitoring trends and adjusting policies accordingly at national level.
This includes providing data and trends broken down by age categories. The QNHS data, being prepared as part of the EU-wide Labour Force Survey, also allow Irish trends to be compared with international developments.
The Pathways to Work strategy, the key document setting out policy to facilitate the unemployed of all ages back into work, is underpinned by analyses of the labour market situation based on the statistical sources mentioned above.
By allocating activation resources to persons on the Live Register, the government’s policy tends automatically to focus on those areas and age-groups in which unemployment is most concentrated. The focus on those most in need is further reinforced by the use of profiling to identify, among the newly unemployed, those most likely to face severe difficulties in re-entering employment. People identified as having a low PEX (probability of exit from unemployment) score are prioritised for intensive engagement and support from the Intreo employment service. Finally, the introduction of JobPath over the last 2 years has led to a greatly increased focus of employment service resources on those who are out of work for long periods.
This policy approach has seen a sharp reduction in long-term unemployment – from over 200,000 (9.5% of the labour force) in 2012 to just under 80,000 (3.6% of the labour force at the end of 2016.
While data from the QNHS are not available at the county level, trends in the Live Register can give an indication of underlying trends in unemployment.
The Live Register age breakdown for offices in County Leitrim and County Sligo for February 2017 and 2011 is given in Table 1. Overall, the number of people on the Live Register fell by over a third over this period, in both counties; while for those aged under 25 the fall was almost 60 per cent.
Table 1. Live Register Age Breakdown February 2017 and February 2011
|
2011 M02 |
2017 M02 |
||
|
Leitrim County |
|||
|
Under 25 years |
582 |
242 |
|
|
25 years and over |
3058 |
2093 |
|
|
All ages |
3640 |
2335 |
|
|
Sligo County |
|||
|
Under 25 years |
1108 |
478 |
|
|
25 years and over |
4435 |
3347 |
|
|
All ages |
5543 |
3825 |
