James O'Connor
Ceist:74. Deputy James O'Connor asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the role of her Department in the July stimulus package; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19037/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraWednesday, 29 July 2020
Ceisteanna (74)
Freagraí scríofa
I welcome the publication of the July Jobs Stimulus which aims to stimulate economic and business recovery. As part of this effort, my Department and the Department of Further and Higher Education and Training will deliver a package of income and employment support and training measures designed to help people maintain a strong income support and access new job opportunities.
At the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Government quickly mobilised and implemented a range of income and employment support measures, including the Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) and the Temporary Wage Subsidy scheme to cushion the income shock experienced by workers and their employers. These income supports have proven to be effective in maintaining incomes and insulating people against a sudden and severe income shock.
It was announced in May that the PUP, originally intended to close on June 9th would be extended to August 10th and that a new earnings-related payment level for people who earned less than €200 per week would be introduced in June.
As part of the July Jobs Stimulus it has been provided that the PUP will be further extended to April 2021 and that the payment rate would be tapered over that time by introducing a new earnings-related payment rate of €250 per week and reducing the headline payment rate to €300 per week. The payment rates will be further calibrated in February to taper back to the standard jobseeker payment of €203 per week in April 2021.
In addition to extending the period for which the PUP will be available the Jobs Stimulus also provides for more financial resources for my Department to enhance its employment support services. I am acutely aware that people who lose their jobs and remain unemployed for some time can become disconnected from the labour market and lose the vital social and work connections that are needed to identify and pursue work opportunities. We have a responsibility to help them overcome these barriers and to do so we need to invest in our employment, training and education services.
Changes made to the State’s employment and training services infrastructure, implemented in response to the Financial Crisis, position Ireland to respond favourably to the economic challenges that face us today. Nevertheless, given the unprecedented scale of job losses, I have secured an additional €112m in funding for a significant ramping up in the delivery of employment services to workers, which will include 45,500 new places on schemes and services.
This funding will be used to:
- Expand the paid Work Placement Programme – currently known as the Youth Employment Support Scheme - to extend the duration of the scheme and to increase the number of places and make them available not just to young people but to all workers who remain unemployed.
- Increase the number of employment services resources for the Intreo service to ensure that all unemployed jobseekers have access to a an employment advisor/case officer.
- Improve and extend the recruitment subsidy for employers who hire people from the Live Register – the subsidy will be payable when employer recruit people from PUP with special provision for the early recruitment of people aged under 30 (currently this provision is limited to people aged under 25).
- Extend the training grants scheme to increase the maximum grant payable to jobseekers to fund participation in a job-relevant short training course from €500 to €1,000.
- Extend access to the Back to Work Enterprise Allowance Scheme, the Back to Education Allowance scheme and the Back to Work Family Dividend Scheme to people on the Pandemic Unemployment Payment.
- Increase the number of places on State Employment Schemes such as Community Employment and Tús to act as a temporary bridge to provide occupational activity and employment experience to people during the recovery period.
These measures are intended to provide an inclusive pathway back to employment, ensuring that no one is left behind in the recovery phase.
Question No. 75 answered with Question No. 37.