The new First Steps program offers a young person, who has had little or no experience of working, the opportunity to learn basic work skills and social skills while on a placement in a real work situation.
The Department is currently seeking expressions of interest from organisations who wish to offer First Steps placements. For more information view Information for Host Organisations.
EURES Experience Your Europe (EYE) programme aims at helping young jobseekers to remove the barriers in finding work or training opportunities in Europe and can provide financial support towards travel to an interview, re-location, language training costs etc.
There are two options promoted under the EYE programme:
Option 1: Your First EURES Job (aimed at jobseekers aged 18-35)
Option 2: Co-Sponsored Placement Programme (aimed at jobseekers aged 18-24)
JobsPlus is an employer incentive which encourages employers to offer employment to jobseekers on the Live Register who have been out of work by giving employers cash incentives.
Under the Youth Guarantee, from 1st January 2015, the qualifying period for employers to avail of JobsPlus for those aged under 25 has been reduced from 12 months to 4 months. Young people who are eligible will be given certification that they qualify for the subsidy and can use this certification when making job applications.
Jobseekers under 25 years of age who have been unemployed for 12 months or more will be prioritised during 2014 and 2015 . They will be offered a referral to a training course, or programme that leads to a job or to job interview within four months of the engagement process commencing. To find out more about how the Intreo engagement process works please go to the Intreo area of this site.
Temporary Employment Programmes
Increase in places made for longer-term unemployed youth by reserving 1,000 Tús placements for this 18-24 year olds in 2014.
A new programme has been developed, similar to Tús but concentrated on employment, by local government authorities, of persons who had previously been more than two years unemployed. It is anticipated that about 450 very long-term unemployed young people will benefit from the programme in 2014.
A limited number of places are being made available for youth who are long-term unemployed and under 25s on specific Community Employment (CE) schemes. These places are targeted at long-term unemployed youth who are very distant from the Labour Market e.g. youth in drug rehabilitation, early school leavers who need special reports.
Jobs Fairs
DSP hosts and participates in Jobs Fairs with employers and other agencies to bring jobseekers face-to-face with recruiting employers or with training agencies offering training to the unemployed. These events are organised locally throughout the year.
Funding for Young People to Start their Own Business
The Back to Work Enterprise Allowance provides people who are long-term unemployed to transition into self-employment by allowing people to retain a reducing proportion of their qualifying social welfare payment over two years (100% in year 1 and 75% in year 2). The enterprise officers of Local Development Companies and INTREO Case Officers work closely with applicants in developing business plans and projections, and providing continuing support to individual start-ups. To date 140 people have entered the scheme and 200 young people are expected to enter by the end of 2014.