Leo Varadkar wants big companies to employ local jobless

Jobs for the unemployed and local workers should be ringfenced when big employers commit to large-scale employment in the country, Social Protection Minister Leo Varadkar has suggested.

Large companies coming into areas affected by unemployment should be consulted by departments and the Government, and local people trained up to work for new positions, he said.

His comments came as he announced that the Government will launch an action plan for jobless families this year targeting generations of people out of work.