Oireachtas Briefing - The Whole Time Jobs Initiative- October 1999

Oireachtas Briefing dealing with the Whole Time Jobs Initiative.

Summary

There are currently 1,000 people on the Whole Time Jobs Initiative (WTJI) whose 3 year contracts of employment will finish in December 1999. Unless appropriate action is taken, these workers, who are all over 35 and previously very long-term unemployed, will end up back on the dole. This Submission outlines the background to the WTJI and looks at what needs to be done to secure the future.

It argues that participants can be divided into three groups – those ready to re-enter mainstream employment, those not yet ready and those for whom other interventions would be more appropriate. Government must urgently give clear direction to FAS, the Local Employment Service and the sponsoring community organisations about the future of this programme and its participants.