‘Employers not looking at Intreo centre as asset’

Employers are reluctant to hire the long-term unemployed and more must be done to encourage them, according to the new junior social protection minister Kevin Humphreys.

Intreo employment and welfare offices are having difficulties encouraging companies to take on people who are out of work for 12 months or longer, he said.

The new minister, who will spearhead the Government’s job activation measures, has announced a national consultation process in order to boost the involvement of employers in work schemes.

Intreo offices operate as one-stop-shops where people can get help with welfare needs and advice about work opportunities. Up to 44 of the 60 promised nationwide offices have opened so far.

But opposition parties have argued that the new offices are a “re-branding” of Fás services.

Money is also being wasted paying companies to take on unemployed people, it is claimed.

Mr Humphreys said a consultation process will help his department to further tackle long-term unemployment, where some 60% of those on the live register are without work for over a year.

Intreo offices looked at the needs of jobseekers as well as employers, he stressed.

But there have been problems attracting employers to hire people on the long-term live register under the JobsPlus scheme, where they are paid up to €10,000 for each person employed.

The minister told RTÉ: “That message hasn’t got out there... It’s much easier to get a job if you are on the short-term register and you’ve just recently become unemployed.

“Even if you have greater skills and you’re long-term, an employer seems to move towards somebody who has just recently become unemployed.

“An employer hasn’t looked at the Intreo centre as an asset, as a resource. What we’re trying to encourage employers [to do] is to come to the Intreo centre.

“We give a ready-made service of tailoring jobseekers for those jobs in the area.”

“JobsPlus is a fantastic scheme that has been under-utilised by employers.”

But former Socialist Party MEP Paul Murphy disagrees. His party has kept a close eye on government work schemes which focus on rewarding employers.

“It’s privatisation and just about statistics, getting people off the live register momentarily so they [the Government] can say they have a success rate.

“The Intreo offices have been dressed up as one-stop-shops to get people back to work, when nothing has really changed,” said the former Dublin European Parliament member.

The Irish National Organisation of the Unemployed says there has been a mixed reaction to how Intreo offices are working.