Minister Doherty welcomes fall in number of people on the Live Register

Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection, Regina Doherty, T.D. has welcomed the latest Live Register figures which were published today. They show that the unadjusted Live Register figure now stands at 199,247 people - the first time since April 2008 that the number of people on the Live Register has fallen below 200,000.

This represents a year on year decrease of 15.7% since October 2017, a decrease of 28% since October 2016 and a month-on-month fall of 3.2% compared with September 2018.

On a seasonally adjusted basis the Live Register total recorded a monthly decrease of 1,700 people (-0.8%) in October 2018, bringing the seasonally adjusted total to 210,700. The number of people on the seasonally adjusted Live Register in October 2018 is also the lowest number recorded since May 2008.

Minister Doherty commented:

“This Government has successfully helped employees who lost their jobs and self-employed who lost their businesses during the economic recession to get back working again. The continuing fall in the Live Register figures reflects an economy going in the right direction but – in the face of challenges such as Brexit - we cannot be too complacent and we must ensure that we continue to sustain the best possible environment for economic growth and job creation.

The Minister also referred to the number of people who are long-term unemployed on the Live Register - 82,998 at the end of October. This is a 3.9% month-on-month decrease in long-term claims compared to September 2018 (86,406) and a drop of 18.3% from October 2017 (101,590).

“As we head back to employment levels last seen before the recession, the long term unemployed comes into sharper focus. We have a range of employment supports and employment activation measures aimed at supporting and helping people to enter, or return to, the workforce and we are also working directly with employers to support them in filling job vacancies within their companies and organisations. Bringing the long-term unemployed back into the workforce will be a key priority for me and the Department in the year ahead.”

The following are some examples of the assistance and support currently provided by the Department to jobseekers and employers:

The Youth Employment Support Scheme (YESS)

Minister Doherty launched the Department’s new YESS scheme on 24 September 2018. YESS is a new work experience scheme targeted exclusively at young jobseekers, aged 18 to 24, who are either long-term unemployed or face significant barriers to employment.

JobsIreland.ie

JobsIreland.ie is the Department’s national recruitment website. The service is administered by Department staff and provides a free online vacancy advertising and candidate matching service for employers who wish to advertise job vacancies, apprenticeships and community employment (CE) schemes. YESS vacancies can now also be advertised on JobsIreland.ie. The service is available to all employers irrespective of size or industry sector. To date in 2018, 69,800 positions have been advertised.

For candidates, JobsIreland.ie provides the opportunity to register and search for all the latest jobs in the market place. JobsIreland.ie lets candidates create an online CV and then notifies them automaticallyof vacancies that match their profile.

JobsPlus

JobsPlus, which was introduced in July 2013, provides a direct monthly financial incentive to employers who offer full-time employment opportunities to long-term unemployed people.

The scheme was further enhanced from 1 January 2018 to support workers aged 50 or over. Almost 16,000 have been employed through the scheme in 2017 and 2018 (to September).

Jobs Fairs

Additionally, the Department hosts numerous Jobs Fairs and events throughout the year, with our annual Jobs Week a particular focus. For Jobs Week 2017, the Department organised and hosted 100 events in every region, which brought 400 employers and 16,000 jobseekers together. Jobs Week 2018 saw 134 events, with 450 employers and 14,500 jobseekers attending. The Department also co-hosts a number of events with EURES, the European Recruitment Service – from the start of 2017 to date in 2018, there has been 3 on-site and 5 online EURES Jobs Fairs. The Department will continue to focus on working with employers throughout the country to ensure that jobseekers can avail of the many jobs that are being created every week by hardworking employers.

Community Employment and TÚS schemes

In addition the department continues to provide valuable work experience for those who are long-term unemployed through the community employment and TUS schemes. These schemes also provide important local services in towns and villages throughout the country. At present there are approximately 28,000 participants on these schemes who are benefitting from work experience and training.

ENDS