Press release
Minister Doherty Welcomes Continued Positive Trend in Live Register Figures
From Department of Social Protection
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of Social Protection
Published on
Last updated on
The Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection, Regina Doherty T.D., today welcomed a continued drop in the number people on the Live Register to 205,730 – the lowest figure since May 2008 (when it was 201,756). The Live Register figure has dropped by 28% over the last two years with the numbers of long term claimants dropping by almost 34% - to 86,406 - over the same period.
Speaking today, Minister Doherty emphasised;
“I am pleased to see the continued trend downwards in the number of people on the Live Register. While today’s data shows that the majority on the register are signing on for 12 months or less, four out of ten are long term unemployed. In my Department, we have significantly increased the volume and efficiency of our activation measures with over 50,000 availing of one scheme or another. I hope to see today’s trends strengthen further as we continue to provide the best possible interventions through those schemes and supports which are best placed to allow the long-term unemployed to re-enter the workplace .”
The current focus on support for the long term unemployed includes, for example, the Pathways to Work 2016-2020 strategy which prioritises long term unemployed people, most notably through:
The current policy approach, and continuing economic recovery, will support further reductions in long term unemployment and add to the substantial improvements that have already been seen over the last few years. Additionally, Minister Doherty recently launched the Youth Employment Support Scheme (YESS) - a new work experience scheme targeted exclusively at young jobseekers who are either long-term unemployed or face significant barriers to employment.
ENDS