We must invest in Ireland’s future now

1 Sep 2010

There are over 455,000 people on the seasonally adjusted Live Register. This is an extraordinary figure and one Ireland has never had to address before now though we have seen higher unemployment rates. "69% of the Live Register are in receipt of Jobseekers Allowance (JA), the means tested unemployment payment, which reflects the extent of the unemployment problem now facing this country," noted Bríd O'Brien, Head of Policy and Media with the INOU. JA is the payment people move onto if they meet the means test when their entitlement to Jobseekers Benefit (JB) comes to an end. JB is the unemployment payment people build up an entitlement to through their PRSI contributions. Jobseekers Allowance is also the payment unemployed people can access if they have no joy finding work and they meet the means test. In the current climate finding a job is extremely difficult. Ireland has lost and continues to lose a staggering number of jobs.

Despite repeated calls from the INOU, other non-government organisations, employer organisations, Trade Unions, and opposition political parties, the Government has failed to produce a coherent Jobs Strategy. Instead we have a mishmash of initiatives ranging from potential forced involvement in schemes currently people can opt into; to a range of education and training options some of which meet unemployed people's needs to offers of courses people are already well qualified in; to the 'smart economy'. O'Brien noted "That if Ireland does not invest in the correct education and training provision we will face the appalling scenario of having jobs with too few people able to fill them".

It is time this Government got real about addressing unemployment. The scale of the problem facing the country cannot be addressed on a cost neutral basis. Billions have been wasted in trying to rescue a banking system that has little capacity and less appetite to properly support economic development. What unemployed people want is a job, however for the foreseeable future there will be too few jobs for the numbers of jobseekers. In the meantime a suite of education, training and employment options must be developed that would give unemployed people the opportunity to maintain and improve their skills. Even more importantly people must be given the choice to participate or not. "The issue of choice is not only a point of principle for the INOU but the organisation also believes that it is a practical imperative at a time of limited resources", continued O'Brien. "It is a complete waste of money forcing people onto unsuitable programmes which will offer them little if any future prospects," she concluded.