Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 1 July 2021
163. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Social Protection her plans in ensuring post-pandemic jobs schemes focus on ensuring quality employment; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35415/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe July Jobs Stimulus set out the Government investment plan of €200m investment towards training, education, skill development, work placement schemes, recruitment subsidies and job search and assistance measures; these measures aim to help those who have lost their jobs find a new one, retrain or develop new skills, in particular for emerging growth sectors. Building on the July Jobs Stimulus, the Economic Recovery provides for a funded work placement scheme to provide work experience for 10,000 jobseekers over two years, where the jobseeker has been unemployed for more than six months. Time spent on the pandemic unemployment payment (PUP) will contribute towards eligibility. The programme will be open to all those who are job seeking with the particular aim of assisting those who have been affected by Covid-19 to pivot into new employment in new sectors through additional learning with new and relevant work experience. This work experience opportunity will provide valuable work and development opportunities to persons whose previous jobs are permanently lost due to Covid-19, as well as to those who were unemployed prior to the pandemic. The programme will support innovative learning and development opportunities for participants.This initiative builds on advice from the Labour Market Advisory Council that such placements have the capacity to keep unemployed people close to the labour market and provide them with quality work experience to increase their employability. The use of work placements to straddle the transition from education and training to full-time employment has proven successful in the past and it is important that a new scheme be developed further to provide valuable work experience for jobseekers. Two separate econometric evaluations by Indecon have been conducted of work and earnings outcomes from work experience/placement schemes in Ireland. These evaluations found that participants on such schemes had significantly higher job outcomes and earnings than a control group of matched participants who did not participate in such schemes.In addition, Jobplus provides subsidies to employers at two rates of up to €7,500 or €10,000 respectively per annum to provide further work quality work experience opportunities to persons on the live register. The Economic Recovery Programme provides for up to 8,000 places on this programme.I am pleased to advise that I will be bringing details of the new work placement experience programme, including the levels of payment to participants, to Government shortly for consideration and approval with a view to launching the programme shortly thereafter.
