An ambitious new plan launched by the government today will aim to get 75,000 long-term unemployed people back to work within the next few years.
The Pathways to Work Strategy 2021 - 2025 will help people return to employment as the economy and labour market recovers in the wake of the pandemic.
The programme will assist jobseekers in preparing for and finding employment "as quickly as possible", with a number of supports offered to encourage them to undertake a new role.
Among these commitments by government is that people claiming jobseekers payments can receive €1,000 to retrain or upskill so they can return to the workforce.
Under this training grant, many categories of claimants are eligible to apply, including those receiving the jobseeker’s benefit and allowance and the Pandemic Unemployment Payment.
The grant will be raised from €500 to €1,000, costing the state €11 million a year.
This will help over 12,500 jobseekers each year to access training programmes outside of the formal state-provided system of further and higher education.
The strategy also offers subsidies for employers to hire people currently on the live register.
Employers will be paid recruitment subsidies of between €7,500 and €10,000 to benefit 8,000 people currently claiming social welfare.
The plans contain 83 commitments by government and according to the Department of Social Protection, whether the strategy is successful will depend on the willingness of employers to hire unemployed people in the years ahead.
In addition to the Pathways to Work scheme, a new paid Work Placement Experience Programme costing the state €95 million was also launched today.
It aims to provide 10,000 people who have been unemployed for more than six months, including those on the PUP, with "the opportunity to build on-the-job experience" by the end of next year.
This will be achieved by increasing the number of new apprentice registrations to 10,000 per year by 2025.
The scheme will also provide an extra 3,000 places on State Employment Schemes at an additional cost of €50 million, bringing the total cost of employment schemes to €475 million a year.
Taoiseach Micheal Martin said the aim of the scheme is to get people back to work in sectors that can drive the growth of the economy after Covid-19.
He launched the programme along with the Minister for Social Protection Heather Humphreys, Minister for Further and Higher Education Simon Harris and Minister of State Damien English in Dundalk today.
"The intention is that it does what it says on the tin, the core purpose of this strategy is to help those whose employment has been impacted by Covid-19 alongside those who had lost jobs before the pandemic struck, to prepare for and acquire good and secure employment," Mr Martin said.
"In so doing, this strategy will also help ensure that Ireland's labour force is able to respond to the future economic, societal and environmental challenges that we will face.
"Investment in human capital is going to be critical to our recovery."
