Live Register - January 2025
On 10th February, 2025, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) released the Live Register figures for January 2025. There were 165,400 people on the Live Register, a decrease of 11,900 people from the same month last year. Looking at the Register from a gender and age perspective: women account for 45% of the Live Register and young people, aged under 25 years, account for 11.4%.
Over the year, the number of people on the Live Register for less than one year decreased by 5.6% to 108,373 people or 65.5% of those on the Live Register. Women account for 45% and young people for 13.7% of this part of the register.
56,862 people were on the Live Register for more than a year, a decrease of 9% on January 2023. Looking at this part of the Register from a gender and age perspective: women account for 42% and young people 7%. Exploring the issue of duration further, 45.5% of the people on the Live Register for more than a year have been on it for at least three years.
Activation Programmes - December
In December 2024 there were 37,063 participants in activation programmes, a decrease of 1.9% since December 2023.
Education and Training
The number of people participating in education and training programmes was 11,036, a 1.4% increase over the year. The number of people participating in SOLAS Full-time Training for Unemployed People has seen a major decrease of 44% to 4,409 people. The number of people on the Vocational Training Opportunities Scheme (VTOS) decreased by 22% to 1,531 participants; and the number of people receiving the Back to Education Allowance increased by 6.3% to 3,527 in December 2024.
Employment Programmes
The number of people participating in employment programmes increased by 3.2% to 27,596. Community Employment remains the largest programme with 19,463 participants in December 2024 – 642 more participants than a year ago. The next biggest employment programme is TÚS - Community Work Placement Initiative, with 4,574 participants, with a decrease of 6 since December 2023. The third largest employment programme is the Back to Work Enterprise Allowance scheme with 1,903 participants, a drop of 6.8% over the year.
The Work Placement Experience Programme (WPEP) increased from 932 participants in December 2023 to 1,333 participants in December 2024. The Part-time Job Incentive Scheme (PTJIS) fell by 22% over the year to 71 participants, while the Short-term Enterprise Allowance has stayed at similar levels, with 252 people participating in December 2024.