Coalition strategies to tackle jobs crisis ‘lack vision’

GOVERNMENT and Fás strategies to tackle unemployment are “fragmented, piecemeal” and “lack any vision on how the future jobs market is likely to be structured”, a leading employment expert has warned.

Irish National Organisation of the Unemployed (INOU) head of policy Bríd O’Brien has launched a stinging attack on the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment’s approach to tackling unemployment, especially in the 18 to 25-year-old bracket.

And ESRI head of social research Phillip O’Connell has also warned that unemployment “is one of the most important dimensions of our current economic crisis” and yet is being largely ignored by policy makers. However, Ms O’Brien has said the Government’s attempts to increase further education and training are “lacking in joined up thinking” and that “when it comes to training for future jobs, outside the smart economy, we’re not at the races”.