RELAND: Social Protection Minister, Joan Burton has again urged employers to play their part in getting people back to work by utilising the Pathways to Work Strategy.
She made the comments today following the release of Live Register figures for February by the Central Statistics Office (CSO). The CSO figures released earlier today, indicate that unemployment has fallen for the 20th month in a row. FIGURES There were 30,807 fewer people on the Live Register last month than in February 2013, and 41,353 fewer than in February the previous year. MINISTER’S COMMENT Minister Burton acknowledged that the standardised unemployment rate has now fallen to 11.9% from a crisis peak of 15.1%. She said that today’s figures are very encouraging and that the 'Pathways to -Work' strategy was playing a central part in the ongoing progress. However, she stated that the current unemployment rate was not favourable. "An 11.9% unemployment rate is still far too high, and that is why, this year and beyond, my absolute priority will be to ensure that the Live Register falls substantially further, with full employment the central target." Pathways reforms include replacing dole offices with new Intreo centres – one-stop shops where jobseekers get their income and employment supports in the one place for the first time. "We want employers in Ireland to follow the example of their counterparts in countries like Germany and Austria and be willing to give not alone young jobseekers but also long-term unemployed people the necessary work, training and apprenticeship opportunities. PATHWAYS TO WORK Pathways to work is the Coalition Government’s 50 point plan to tackle long-term unemployment in Ireland. Some of the main actions of the plan are to give incentives to employers who are able to recruit long-term unemployed, to streamline welfare payments and to increase the number of employment schemes open to people out of work for a long time. The full strategy is available here
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