Over 31,000 additional people in work over the last year
Unemployment has fallen for nine consecutive quarters
Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton T.D., has today (26 August 2014) welcomed the latest CSO QNHS data, which shows that employment has increased by 1.7% over the last year, with 31,600 additional people now at work.
The Tánaiste said: “The Government’s number one priority is helping people back to work, and these figures show the degree to which the Government strategies to create jobs and reduce the Live Register – the Action Plan for Jobs and Pathways to Work – are succeeding.
“The Action Plan, overseen by Minister Richard Bruton, aims to ensure 100,000 new jobs are created by 2016, and the figures show we are well on the way to achieving that. Particularly welcome is the fact that the overwhelming majority of people returning to work are returning to full-time employment, which is critically important.
“Pathways, overseen by my Department, aims to ensure that as many of those newly created jobs as possible go to people on the Live Register. Again, the figures are welcome evidence of success in this regard – unemployment has now fallen for nine consecutive quarters and now stands at 11.5%, down from a peak of over 15%.
“But that rate remains too high and too many people are still out of work and therefore not benefitting from the recovery that is now well under way. That is why, in the recent Statement of Priorities agreed between the Taoiseach and I, our number-one priority is to further strengthen the domestic economy and prioritise new jobs for the unemployed.
“The Budget will be a key step in this regard, as we will set out a new capital investment programme which will deliver jobs across the country, and prioritise a range of additional measures, such as increased funding for the very successful JobsPlus scheme, through which we give cash grants to employers who recruit from the Live Register.
“In addition, we will introduce measures in the Budget to assist low-income families by improving the system of child income supports so that those moving from welfare to work will retain payments for children to ensure that people are better off in work.”
Notes to Editors:
See Statement of Priorities here:
http://www.merrionstreet.ie/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Statement-of-Government-Priorities-Final-110714.pdf
About JobsPlus:
The JobsPlus incentive is payable on a monthly basis over a two-year period and provides two levels of payment:
· A payment of €7,500 over two years to the employer for each person recruited who has been unemployed for between 12 and 24 months. This equates to approximately €312 a month
· €10,000 over two years to the employer for each person recruited who has been unemployed for more than 24 months. This equates to approximately €416 a month
See www.jobsplus.ie