Live Register - March 2025
On 4th April, 2025, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) released the Live Register figures for March 2025. There were 162,900 people on the Live Register, a decrease of 13,530 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 11.5%.
Over the year, the number of people on the Live Register for less than one year decreased by 6.7% to 103,969 people and account for 64.2% of those on the Live Register. Women account for 45.2% and young people for 13.9% of this part of the register.
55,897 people were on the Live Register for more than a year, a decrease of 9.7% on March 2024. Looking at this part of the Register from a gender and age perspective: women account for 41.3% and young people 6.9%. Exploring the issue of duration further, 46.5% of the people on the Live Register for more than a year have been on it for at least three years.
Activation Programmes - February
In February 2025 there were 36,558 participants in activation programmes, a decrease of 1.5% since February 2024.
Education and Training
The number of people participating in education and training programmes was 10,216, a decrease of 9% compared to February 2024. The number of people participating in SOLAS Full-time Training for Unemployed People has seen a major decrease of 13% to 5,459 people. The number of people on the Vocational Training Opportunities Scheme (VTOS) decreased by 22% to 1,454 participants; and the number of people receiving the Back to Education Allowance increased by 6% to 3,303 in February 2025.
Employment Programmes
The number of people participating in employment programmes decreased by 1.2% to 26,342.
Community Employment remains the largest programme with 19,569 participants in February 2025 – 591 more participants than a year ago. The next biggest employment programme is TÚS - Community Work Placement Initiative, with 4,361 participants, a similar figure to February 2024. The third largest employment programme is the Back to Work Enterprise Allowance scheme with 1,887 participants, a drop of 5% over the year.
The Work Placement Experience Programme (WPEP) has 170 participants, a similar figure to February 2024. The Part-time Job Incentive Scheme (PTJIS) is stable at 83 participants, while the Short-term Enterprise Allowance has also stayed at similar levels, with 272 people participating in February 2025.